A top FIA officer has been forced to dismiss suggestions of bias stemming from her previous affiliation with Mercedes.
Shaila-Ann Rao became the governing body's interim secretary general for motorsport at the start of June, replacing the outgoing Peter Bayer. But before returning to the FIA, she spent three years working with the Silver Arrows, most recently as a special advisor to team boss Toto Wolff.
Her appointment didn't go down too well with some of Mercedes' rivals. Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto admitted at the time he was "concerned", adding: "She's a great person, she's got a lot of experience. She will certainly be capable of doing the job. I'm pretty sure on that.
"It's a concern, but only a concern. It's down to them to make sure there will be no conflicts of interest at all, to behave properly. And it’s down to the president to ensure it. I've got the trust they will do it. As Ferrari, it's a concern. I'm pretty sure that through the behaviours, through the decisions, they will prove it’s a wrong concern."
Speaking with Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, Rao said she is not concerned by suggestions of bias. "Before I worked for Mercedes, I was director of legal affairs at the FIA," she said.
"That's how the world of F1 works, you go from one team to another. It's full of ex-employees, even [F1 chief exeutive] Stefano Domenicali worked at Ferrari. I'm not worried about certain rumours, I'll move on and keep doing what I've always done: Work."
And she went on to take aim at Red Bull chief Christian Horner, who has also suggested Mercedes are getting preferential treatment amid the FIA's technical directive to fix porpoising. Horner said the intervention was "overtly biased" in favour of Merc, but Rao is having none of it.
"At the moment it is only a proposal and has not yet been finalised," she explained. "And in any case, we work for the safety of the drivers. Always. What would happen if we did not intervene when safety is at stake?"
Amid the criticism, Wolff leapt to the defence of his former advisor, telling reporters in June: "She was at the FIA before she joined us. She was chief executive officer of one of the largest sports agencies before and the positive of having Shaila-Ann in this position is she's one about governance and transparency. She's a lawyer."
