Lewis Hamilton has added his condemnation to the bizarre and aborted investigation into Toto Wolff and the Mercedes boss’ wife Susie.
The saga took another twist just ahead of the FIA’s awards gala in Baku, attended by Hamilton to collect his trophy for third overall in 2023.
Just prior to the event, F1’s governing body announced that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem would have a lower-profile presence after becoming "ill" and suffering "a fall and concussion".
At precisely the same time, Wolff broke his silence on the aborted FIA investigation about the exchange of confidential information from his wife Susie, who is now managing director of the F1-run F1 Academy series.
"We are currently in active legal exchange with the FIA," said the Mercedes boss and co-owner, amid earlier reports that he and Susie are considering a defamation lawsuit.
"We await full transparency about what took place and why, and have expressly reserved all legal rights."
Susie Wolff suspects she is "collateral damage" in "an unsuccessful attack on somebody else", which she thinks was fended off by the "unified support" of every single one of Mercedes’ Formula 1 team rivals.
And now, with his powerful voice, seven time world champion Hamilton stood on stage with Ben Sulayem but later slammed the FIA president for questioning Wolff’s credibility "without questioning, without any evidence".
"It seems there are certain individuals within the leadership of the FIA that every time we make a step forward they’re trying to pull us back and that has to change," said the Mercedes driver.
"I do want to acknowledge there are a lot of people doing great work but we need to make some changes to make sure we are pushing in the right direction."