Lewis Hamilton has blasted the FIA over its dealing with of the investigation of Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and his spouse, F1 Academy director Susie Wolff, describing the motorsport governing physique’s conduct as ‘disappointing’ and ‘unacceptable’.
The 38-year-old attended an awards ceremony in Baku for the highest three drivers within the Championship, with Pink Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez additionally attending.
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Wolff‘s absence was famous, nonetheless, days after an investigation was opened by the FIA into an alleged leak of categorized info between Wolff and his spouse, Susie.
They later confirmed they have been now not trying into the matter, nevertheless it marked a repeat of the stress from the 2021 gala, whereby nobody from Mercedes attended in protest of the controversial occasions within the last race on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which helped Verstappen clinch his first world title.
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Hamilton, who’s shut with Woff after working with the Austrian since becoming a member of the crew in 2013, turned as much as declare his award and in doing so additionally aimed a swipe on the FIA for taking the game backwards.
Hamilton factors the finger at Ben Sulayem
“I’m very disillusioned that the governing physique of our championship has accused one of many nice leaders, some of the unimaginable leaders of our sport, Susie Wolff, of a scarcity of integrity, with out proof, it’s unacceptable,” Hamilton mentioned.
“We now have lots of people doing mind-blowing work, combating for inclusion and variety within the sport and in F1, within the motor trade generally. However there appears to be individuals within the FIA management who, each time we take a step ahead, they need to push it again.”
It’s understood that though Hamilton didn’t immediately identify anybody, the Briton was firmly pointing the finger at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the 62-year-old supremo and a former racer himself.
“This can be a world sport, which travels by means of many international locations,” the seven-time champion mentioned. “We could be leaders of change and luxuriate in this accountability that this sport additionally presents us, however we’ve got to take it in the correct path.”
