Last week the FIA announced its compliance department was looking into a potential conflict interest between a team principal and FOM employee, amid dubious allegations that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and F1 Academy head Susie Wolff had exchanged confidential information.
Less than 48 hours later the matter was dropped as the FIA published a second statement saying it was “satisfied” with the processes that were in place to prevent unauthorised disclosure of confidential information, but not before receiving a stinging response from the Wolffs, who said they had their reputation harmed by the public nature of the probe.
PLUS: How the FIA/Wolff case could shape F1’s political landscape
Wolff's Ferrari counterpart Vasseur felt the whole saga was “quite embarrassing” and unnecessary as the FIA managed to clear the Wolffs shortly after going public with the probe, which suggested there was no need to issue a public statement in the first place.
“I think this story is quite embarrassing for our sport,” Vasseur said, when asked by Autosport if he was worried by the incident and its implications on the already frosty relationship between FOM and the FIA.
“The story started with an article in a newspaper, I don't know if newspaper is the right word. And I think in this situation when you are speaking about an individual, you have to take care of what you are saying.
“I think it would have been appropriate from the FIA; they needed 24 hours between the [first] announcement and the second announcement. It would have made sense to use the 24 hours before the first announcement [to investigate], to avoid any bad conclusions."
Source: Autosport