Toto Wolff has expressed his apprehensions following the swift departure of three prominent figures from the FIA, the governing body.
Within a few weeks in December, sporting director Steve Nielsen, technical director Tim Goss, and Deborah Mayer, the head of the FIA’s commission for women, all stepped down from their roles.
Despite the subsequent appointments of replacements, the notable turnover in the leadership of the governing body has raised concerns in the paddock. The head of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, emphasized the importance of “stability” in such positions.
Toto Wolff has expressed his concerns and posed the question of why several prominent figures have departed from the FIA, emphasizing the need to understand the reasons behind the notable exits.
Wolff clarified that the recent departures from the governing body have involved individuals with significant experience and expertise, a development that he perceives as potentially detrimental to the sport.
In such situations, there is a risk of creating a “vacuum,” where the departure of experienced individuals could result in a void or gap within the organization.
“I think the FIA has many important tasks as an institution, the first of which is to govern with ethics, transparency and integrity,” Wolff said to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“This includes how you run the sport together with F1 and the teams, but also how the rules are set and controlled.
“In the end we all have to share the same goal: to make F1 even bigger in the world. For that to happen you need stability.
“It is not a good thing when people of experience and quality leave. Steve Nielsen, who knows the sport from every angle, left, and that’s a bad blow. Then Tim Goss left, and in this way Nikolas Tombazis loses a very good lieutenant. And still others have resigned.
“As teams we cannot do anything about it: it is not up to us to decide how people manage their staff and their structure.
“But when all of a sudden such good people leave an organisation you create a vacuum, it’s clear. You have to ask yourself why so many have left and have done so now.”
In response to queries about the FIA’s leadership on the matter, Wolff emphasized the need for the governing body to maintain stability and safety as Formula 1 expands globally. He expressed concern over the departures, stating that it worries him and is perceived as an issue by his colleagues.
“FIA is one of the three key components of the sport, and the leaders of these organisations have to set the standard that then applies to everyone else,” the Mercedes team principal and CEO said.
“It means ethics, transparency in behaviour, and you can never lower the bar. There is huge investment in F1 from car industries around the world: for the future we need to see a sport that grows stable and safe, and act with these values in mind.
“The Federation is a historic organisation that plays an important role; it worries to see so many people leaving. Many behind the scenes are starting to see this as a repeating pattern.”
