Russell aligned with Wolff in FIA demand

George Russell has mirrored Team Principal Toto Wolff's comments who called for transparency amid the investigation into FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

It was reported that Ben Sulayem is under investigation after allegedly attempting to interfere with the race results at last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso crossed the line in third place before being issued a 10-second time penalty for failing to serve an in-race penalty correctly.

However, the decision was later reversed and Alonso was restored to the podium after dropping out of the top three.

It has since emerged that Ben Sulayem had allegedly attempted to intervene and overturn the penalty.

Further allegations were also made, that claimed the president pushed for officials not to certify the new Las Vegas Formula 1 track.

When asked how concerned he was about the report, Russell told media including RacingNews365: “I think we want to see all of the facts and just have total transparency.

“We're all racing here. We want a fair and level playing field for us to showcase what we can do. I can't really comment further.

“We were surprised a year ago when the result got overturned, as the legal team at Mercedes thought they did a great job of presenting our case and initially winning the case and then losing it thereafter.

“So we just want to see transparency and have the opportunity to race on a fair playing field.”

'Racing must take priority'

Off-track occurrences have taken over headlines during the start of the 2024 F1 campaign.

In addition to the matters surrounding the FIA president, Red Bull has been at the forefront of discussions after Christian Horner was investigated following allegations made against him. by an employee.

Despite being cleared following questioning from a lawyer, the situation has escalated with Max Verstappen's father Jos calling for Horner's departure from the team.

Amid a series of attention being placed away from the on-track action, Russell insisted that racing must be the main product F1 offers.

“I feel that the racing needs to be at the forefront of everything,” Russell said. “And this is what we all love and what we're here to fight for.

“It's a shame when that isn't the forefront of the media attention. But equally, Formula 1 is at the forefront of technology.

“I think from an entertainment standpoint, I think we've been really pushing the boundaries in the last few years.

“We do need to create an environment that is inclusive for everybody. We're seeing the demographic change over the past couple of years, and it does need to be inclusive. So unfortunately, you need to have these hard conversations and questions.

“Going back to the earlier point, you want to see transparency within all of these reports, because ultimately, until we see the facts, we can't really comment.”