FIA "could have own reality show" after recent weeks says critical Wolff
F1 News
A critical Toto Wolff said that the FIA "could have its own reality show" after the chaos of recent weeks. There have been big-name departures from the motorsport federation, and at the Qatar Grand Prix, some of the calls made by the stewards during the race left many people scratching their heads.
Former race director Niels Wittich was the first big name to leave the FIA. Initially, it was reported that the race director would be leaving after he decided to moe on from the post. However, fairly soon, it was announced that he had been sacked.
Paolo Basarri was also reportedly sacked from his role as FIA compliance officer, and before the Qatar race weekend, it was announced that steward Tim Mayer had also been relieved of his duty. As well as this, new F2 race director Janette Tan was already leaving before her debut as Formula 2 race director. She was also reportedly sacked, but this was not confirmed.
In Qatar, the FIA president spoke out about the criticism he has faced for some of the decisions he has made, along with the letter from the Grand Prix Drivers' Association that also criticised his comments about swearing. But the Emirati said that the decisions he makes are "none of their business" and that he is living "free of charge in [the critics'] brains."
Wolff: "We need to protect this sport"
Speaking to several media sources including GPblog after the hectic race in Qatar, Wolff was asked if the outcome of the race was the result of all the chaos from the FIA: "If you look at it in a positive way, it could have its own reality show of what's happening at the moment.
"I think all of our stakeholders need to bear in mind that we need to protect this holy grail of a sport that it is and do it with responsibility, accountability and transparency. It doesn't come across like that [at the moment]. I can't look into the organisation. I understand what we are doing and trying to keep that together. But it's good that the drivers are united in this overall, bigger picture like they've shown. The teams very much have an understanding of what we believe is right or wrong. So everybody just needs to look in the mirror and say, ‘Am I contributing the best to this sport or not?’.
Wolff on FIA president Ben Sulayem
The Austrian CEO was then asked about the comments made by Ben Sulayem earlier in the race weekend, and Wolff responded to this statement by saying: "I think he can fire as many people as he wants. It's his organisation, he's the president. That's not something that anybody has an involvement in. What becomes important for the drivers and for all of us is how does it make the decision-making process better, does it make the regs better, is the sport improving because of these changes in the organisation and personnel?"
"If the answer to all of this is yes then this is an internal matter that he has to handle. What's in the news and the potential spillover in terms of
negativity and reputation, is something that is bad for all of us. This is also what I meant. All of us are in this sport. All of the stakeholders, the media, the FIA, the drivers, the teams, I mean all of us, Liberty Media [as well]. Stefano is running it. In times when there is so much polarisation and so much conflict, rationality needs to win. It doesn't look that way at the moment," Wolff concluded.
This article was created in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
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