Following Lewis Hamilton’s ’emotional farewell’ announcement from Mercedes, the Silverstone Arrows have again captured the spotlight in the world of Formula 1. This time, it’s Susie Wolff who’s playing the protagonist role in her latest outburst against the FIA.
Regarding Wolff’s backlash against the FIA, Lewis Hamilton has now come forward to voice some ‘surprising’ words for the FIA President.
Lewis Hamilton denies backing FIA President Ben Sulayem
On Wednesday (March 20, 2024), it was announced by the FIA Ethics Committee that its investigation against the FIA President, Ben Sulayem, which took 30 days and involved interviews with 11 witnesses, proved the man to be innocent. He was cleared of all accusations of ‘race meddling’ and ‘track disapproving’.
Only a day later, on Thursday, after Susie Wolff publicly announced her criminal complaint against the FIA, Lewis Hamilton was asked if Ben Sulayem was the right fit to be the FIA President and if he still had the Briton’s support. Giving a ‘vote of no confidence,’ he delivered a response, and flat-out replied, “He never has.”
The 7x World Champion also dropped a hefty criticism of the FIA’s ‘vague’ way of handling the ‘controversial’ issues that it termed as ‘internal’ and warned about the harm it was causing to this prestigious sport.
“There is a real lack of accountability here, within this sport, within the FIA,” he said. “There are things that are happening behind closed doors, there is no transparency, there is really no accountability, and we need that. The fans need that.”
“How can you trust the sport and what is happening here if you don’t have that?” he concluded, throwing this question at the FIA.
These strong words from Hamilton against Ben Sulayem comes after the FIA ‘vaguely’ mishandled the recent ‘controversial’ issues that have rocked the new F1 season, like the cases of Ben Sulayem himself and the incident with Susie and Toto Wolff back in December of last year.
Lewis Hamilton backs Susie Wolff’s FIA criminal complaint
Back in December of last year, Susie (F1 Academy MD) and Toto Wolff (Mercedes Team Principal) were the subject of a conflict-of-interest lawsuit against the FIA after they were investigated for allegedly sharing confidential information between themselves.
However, within 48 hours of the investigation, the FIA called it off without any real proof against the pair. It was quite a ‘humiliating and unexpected’ act from the FIA.
Fast forward to yesterday: Susie Wolff announced that she has filed a criminal complaint against the FIA as a ‘legal’ reaction and backlash for publicly trying to defame her and her husband.
In Melbourne, during the same interview, Lewis Hamilton praised this robust defense by Susie Wolff, when asked about his opinion on the matter. He started, by replying, “I’m incredibly proud of Susie.”
“I think she is so brave, and she stands for such great values. She’s such a leader and in a world where often people are silenced, for her to be standing up sends such a great message.”
“So, hopefully this stand that she’s taking now will create change, will have a positive impact, and especially for women.”
“It is still a male-dominated sport, and we’re living in a time where the message is if you file a complaint, you will be fired, and that is a terrible narrative to be projecting to the world, especially when we’re talking about inclusivity here in the sport,” he added, hinting at Red Bull’s move against its own female employee.
“We need to make sure we stay true to the core values,” he concluded, again emphasizing on the importance of the sport’s reputation.
Lewis Hamilton, led by Susie’s husband Toto Wolff, will take on the Melbourne circuit at Albert Park this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix.
Is Hamilton lying about never supporting the FIA President? Will the FIA take actions against him for these words? Does he really back Wolff’s complain against the FIA? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
