Toto Wolff seems to have no problem with the former Mercedes consultant taking on a role in FIA » FirstSportz

There is no claim to a conflict of interest Shaila Ann Raos Setting, according to the Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. Wolff sees no problem with the former Mercedes consultant now working for the FIA.

Rao quickly took over from Peter Bayer in his capacity as FIA Secretary General for Autosport. This has filled a crucial position on F1’s board of directors, but not all teams are pleased. For example, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto was concerned about Rao’s former employer.

Also read: “This is clearly against the regulations” : Toto Wolff insists that other F1 teams have violated the regulations of the FIA

Toto Wolff talks about Shaila-Ann Rao

Prior to this position, Shaila-Ann was Wolff’s personal advisor at Mercedes. The other teams are not particularly pleased that someone in a managerial position at the FIA ​​recently left Mercedes because of this. However, Wolff does not understand the reasoning.

“I think my opinion of Shaila-Ann is in terms of integrity and transparency, she’s a lawyer, that’s what she stands for and I think that’s important. We’ve had too many controversies in the past where things weren’t open, that should have been and she’s a guarantee of that.” said Wolff.

The Mercedes team boss appears to be alluding to the mistakes he believes were made at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and not for the first time. Application of the rules by former FIA race director Michael Masi resulted in seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton losing the world championship to Max Verstappen at the time. Wolff hopes that his former adviser will not allow this to happen again.

Also read: ‘Maybe one day he’ll feel like explaining it’: Mark Hughes awaits Max Verstappen’s revelation

Also read: George Russell admits he was petrified by an ‘ass kick’ from team-mate Lewis Hamilton before arriving at Mercedes