Frederic Vasseur says the F1-FIA moment involving the Wolffs was embarrassing, but he is pleased with how teams – including Red Bull – reacted to it.
The post 2023 season saw another fallout of sorts between F1 and the FIA when the latter released a statement regarding investigation into potential conflict between a team boss and a FOM employee. They did not name anyone to avoid pin pointing.
But due to media reports, everyone linked it with Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and F1 Academy’s Susie Wolff. The people at FOM were surprised by FIA’s statement, as where Mercedes. The latter did release a strongly worded statement where legal possibilities were noted too.
Even Susie was left highly disappointed after the FIA pulled back on the said investigation. For Ferrari’s Vasseur – who is a good friend of Toto – it was an embarrassing situation overall as things were floated so quickly without checking post the media report.
I think this story is quite embarrassing for our sport,” said Vasseur to media at Maranello. “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,” summed up Vasseur, who was pleased how F1 teams were united which included Red Bull.
“At least the team were very united and I think it was the first conclusion for me, we were able to act together and its not that very often, even Red Bull were supportive with Toto, we have to notice it,” he continued. “And honestly I think it is a good point for us also to take position and to discuss with the other stakeholders. I think it is the first time that we showed something like this.”
Staying with Red Bull and the ownership of AlphaTauri as well, Vasseur agrees that it is a strange situation but adds that if the FIA have managed it well so far, they will be able to do so in the future too amid recent discussions regarding curbing it.
“What I think we have to police is what teams are doing with their junior teams,” said Vasseur. “For me, it is not the right way because for me – Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri or Minardi I don’t know what is next – what they are doing together [with Red Bull], it is true that it is a strange situation with two teams owned by the same company. But the FIA have been able to manage it so far – and I am sure they will be able to in future.”
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