Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is unhappy with the way Formula One's governing body conducted a recent investigation into the performance of Ferrari's power unit.
Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix the FIA confirmed it was happy Ferrari is operating within the regulations after spending the previous two races looking into the way its Energy Recovery System works. The investigation had been prompted by suspicions that the team had found a way to deliver more than the permitted 120kw of power from its MGU-K, the part of the engine which recovers and deploys energy to the rear wheels.
Although F1 race director Charlie Whiting said the FIA had investigated Ferrari after spotting some data from its power unit it wanted to better understand, the previous day he had named James Allison -- Mercedes' current technical chief, who left the same role at Ferrari mid-way through 2016 -- as the man who had approached them to initially raise the concern.
Asked if he felt the FIA had thrown his team under a bus by naming Allison publicly, Wolff replied: "Yes. One of my roles is to protect my people and if they are named it is disturbing.
"First of all the most important is to understand how the process goes and I guess you guys know that various teams question the FIA every single day. I think it's just important to not put someone out there and say 'This person has questioned a legality problem'. If you say a team has done it, that's perfectly fine, that's modus operandi. But picking out individuals I don't think it is the right thing to do."
Wolff did not question the outcome of the investigation itself and insists the world champions will not be making any sort of appeal.
"The FIA has made a public statement and as the governing body they are entitled to do that. No judgement has been made on anything. No protest. No investigation launched. No verdict. We trust them.
"The normal modus operandi is that teams ask about issues every single day and that is what has happened in this instance."