Wolff trusts F1 and FIA would not 'interfere' for "entertainment"

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff trusts that F1 has "no interest in interfering into the racing just for the entertainment factor" after the controversial end to the 2021 season.

Max Verstappen claimed his maiden F1 drivers' title by overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, not without drama and confusion over the late safety car procedures employed by race control.

F1 has seen an upsurge in audience through dramatic Netflix documentary 'Drive to Survive', but speaking immediately after Mercedes confirmed it would not pursue its appeal against the result of the Yas Marina race, Wolff dispelled theories of the sport becoming a 'Netflix series in real life'.

“I would never want to put such things in [the media] and I would never say such things because at the end, we provide entertainment but entertainment needs to follow sport and not the other way around," he explained.

“The rules are the rules, the consistency of the application of the rules is important and no decision making should ever happen contrary to the rules just to spice up the action.

“We love Netflix and Drive to Survive. Stefano Domenicali is doing a phenomenal job in marketing the sport and Stefano, as a true racer, would have no interest in interfering into the racing just for the entertainment factor.

“So, I cannot judge the pressures of the race director but in any case, we are so credible as a sport because it is sport and it is not wrestling.”