Wolff accused of F1 'conflict of interest'

Dec.4 (GMM) Unnamed rival team bosses are aiming fire at a new alleged conflict of interest for Mercedes team boss and co-owner Toto Wolff.

Earlier, the Austrian was accused of taking advantage of his links with his former lawyer Shaila-Ann Rao, who went on to become interim secretary general of sport at the FIA.

And now, Business F1 magazine claims team bosses are again concerned about Wolff getting access to privileged information – this time via his wife Susie.

Susie Wolff is now a leading figure at Formula 1’s new female-only F1 Academy series, with the magazine claiming: “Team principals believe Wolff now has access to confidential information they do not”.

One unnamed boss said: “The information is flowing both ways from us and to Toto but of course we are not getting the benefit of that, he is and they are.

“They’re saying, hey, you know, we can go and have a meeting, an internal meeting, and the next thing it’s all over (Liberty Media CEO) Greg Maffei’s desk because Toto’s told his wife, who in turn has told Stefano (Domenicali), who’s told Greg Maffei.”

Another F1 team boss added: “I believe it’s illegal. Certainly, there’s a massive conflict of interest at public company level. And apart from that I believe it’s highly unethical.”