Analysis | FOM must look in the mirror after accusations to Wolff couple

Toto Wolff and his wife Susie are at the centre of a sporting and, more importantly, political storm in Formula 1. The cause is the possible leaking of confidential information. Could this have been prevented? And how should things proceed now?

Toto and Susie Wolff have a happy marriage, because they just talk. A lot of talking if stories are to be believed about the possible leaking of confidential information to each other. Of course, the comment about Mr and Mrs Wolff's marriage was made in jest. Yet the Formula 1 team bosses' suspicions are anything but light-hearted.

'Wolff couple were naive'

As team boss and co-owner of one of the biggest teams in Formula 1, Toto Wolff works at Mercedes under immense performance pressure and is constantly in the spotlight. The Austrian is a key figure in a rock-hard world where the adage 'every man for himself' applies. If someone can give a competitor a leg up, they will. Either way, without scruples. Seen in this light, a man who is a purveyor of sport like Wolff should be warned: don't give your enemies the weapons they need to cut your head off.

Of course, not all the facts are on the table, and someone is guilty only after being proven guilty. But Wolff will no doubt agree that Susie's (managing director of F1 Academy) managerial position within Formula One Management (Liberty Media), on the one hand, and his own job as team boss, on the other, can at least raise suspicions that conversations are being held at the kitchen table at home, the content of which is not actually intended for the other. Let's put it another way: it is very naive to think that such a thing never happens.

If fellow team bosses then (anonymously) start complaining in the media about possible conflicts of interest and refer to statements made by you - thus proving you have certain insider knowledge from Formula One Management - it should be reason to do some serious self-reflection: what happened and what does this mean for my (our) further functioning within Formula One?

Only one solution possible

To counteract all suspicions in the future, there is really only one possibility: one of the two would have to resign from his or her position. The obvious solution would then be for Susie Wolff to award the leadership of F1 Academy to someone else. Wolff could theoretically quit as team boss, but as co-owner of the team, complicated situations could still arise.

The word has come up before: naive. Before Susie joined F1 Academy early this season, the Wolff couple could have imagined that this could cause hassle. A man like Wolff must surely have thought about that. And suppose they didn't think about it beforehand anyway, and they were acting in good faith. Then Formula One Management (FOM) - and therefore Liberty Media - should have seen the necessary bumps in the road when appointing Susie Wolff.

Of course, it is perfectly understandable why the organisation ended up with the British for the women's branch of motorsport: having been a successful racing driver herself, an executive in motorsport (Formula E) and, above all, a woman. But at FOM, the fact that she is also the wife of one of the most influential people in Formula 1 should have raised red flags anyway. That there is now a fuss about the integrity of the Wolff family is not only down to them but certainly also to FOM/Liberty Media. But it is not too late. As the team bosses also said: no huge bomb has exploded yet. So, to prevent this from still happening, FOM/Liberty Media have no choice but to intervene now.