Vasseur: 'Red Bull backed Toto, that won't have been easy'

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fred vasseur on toto wolff and investigation fia
18 December 2023 at 17:10
  • Ludo van Denderen

For the FIA, the matter is settled, but certainly not for Toto and Susie Wolff. The Mercedes team boss and F1 Academy managing director are still very keen to know who is behind the allegations of alleged conflicts of interest. It is a situation that has now gripped Formula 1, although something did stand out: the Formula 1 teams were united in their denial that they had anything to do with it.

All nine competitors of Mercedes' F1 team released a statement the day after the FIA decided to investigate the Wolff family that they had not been the complaining party. Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur thinks this is a remarkable thing, he told the media last week. The Italian branch of Motorsport was there.

Vasseur saw united teams

"I believe that at least the most important thing about 'the incident' last week is that all the teams were united. We were able to work together and that doesn't happen very often. Red Bull also supported Toto, and I don't think that was easy (laughs). Frankly, I think it is a good topic to discuss with the other shareholders. It is the first time the teams have shown that they are so united and want to go in the same direction," Vasseur said.

Incidentally, Vasseur is not at all happy with the way the FIA has handled the matter. The Frenchman calls it "shameful for our sport". He believes the motorsport federation should have taken time to investigate first, and only then inform the media. Now first came a message to the press and 24 hours later the announcement that there was no reason for further investigation.