How the FIA/Wolff case could shape F1’s political landscape

OPINION: The FIA investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff over a potential breach of compliance rules and a possible conflict of interest has erupted a Formula 1 political landscape shift. But how it settles down could hint at what the future holds for the teams, the FIA and FOM

It is often said that nothing brings a body of people together like a common enemy. The unity that can thrive when all parties are united against the same target can be truly powerful.

That is why the ever-changing dynamics of the relationship between F1 teams on one side, and the FIA/FOM on the other, has been fascinating to observe for decades now. As an example, long-time F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had to divide and conquer the teams to prevent becoming their common enemy, for he knew he could rule the roost much better if they were fighting each other rather than coming together against him.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.