Toto Wolff Plays the Middle-Man To Avoid Massive FIA – Lewis Hamilton Bust-Up

Mercedes’ maverick, Lewis Hamilton, hasn’t always shared a harmonious relationship with the sports governing body, the FIA. Safe to say, the former has always stuck by his guns and said he feels singled out by them. The Jewelry ban, for example, seemingly only adversely affected the Brit. That being said, the FIA has on more than one occasion gotten behind Hamilton and given him an inch wherever it made sense. And this is exactly what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is counting on now, in light of the FIA’s ban on impromptu political statements.

The FIA recently amended the International Sporting Code to stipulate that drivers in any FIA-sanctioned competition [that includes F1] cannot make religious, political, or personal statements without the explicit consent of the FIA’s president. Now, this didn’t really go down too well with the 7x Champion.

However, the Austrian comes around as a peace-bearer. The Sun quoted Toto Wolff saying, “We need to see how this really pans out. We understand that sport is not here to mix with politics but on the contrary and to unite. I have no doubt [FIA president] Mohammed [Ben Sulayem] and the FIA mean well and want to achieve the right things.”

Wolff is pushing for the duo to sit down and sort this out. “It is just about aligning it with the drivers who have been more outspoken in the past. When Lewis has spoken with Mohammed in the past it has always ended up in a positive discussion, so when people sit around the table together I don’t think things will be as harsh as they are written down.”

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Well, we do hope this round-table conference between Hamilton and the FIA works out. That being said, what Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA’s president, has had to say about the issue may raise a few eyebrows.

Ben Sulayem aims a subtle dig at Lewis Hamilton & Co. amid rule change

The FIA’s decision to censor the drivers is something that has divided F1 fans across the globe. However, it is pretty clear that drivers like Hamilton are not happy about this. Now, Sulayem has issued a statement that can only be seen as a warning to Hamilton to abide by the rules.

Express UK quoted Sulayem saying, “You can use sport for peace reasons but one thing we don’t want is to have the FIA as a platform for private personal agenda. We will divert from the sport. What does the driver do best? Driving. They are so good at it, and they make the business, they make the show, they are the stars. Nobody is stopping them.”

“There are other platforms to express what they want. Everybody has this and they are most welcome to go through the process of the FIA, to go through that.”

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With all the setbacks he’s faced throughout his career, the Brit has come out only stronger. Is 2023 the year the 7x Champion finally gets his hands on the 8th after two massively disappointing years?