Ex-F1 team boss Kolles tried to blackmail Wolff for money

We reported earlier that a conversation between Wolff and a then-unnamed former Formula 1 team boss was "secretly recorded" and then threatened to be used against him.

Bild newspaper had said Wolff spoke negatively about his own boss, Ross Brawn, colleague Niki Lauda, and also Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, whilst divulging details of his clashing co-ownership of the Williams team.

A subsequent report by the magazine Sport Bild

That report said that Kolles then threatened to release the details of their explosive conversation unless Wolff paid a sum of money.

Reportedly, Wolff and Kolles have settled their dispute with the intervention of Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, while Mercedes has obtained a court order preventing the publication of the details of the conversation.

Sport1 said that Kolles would not comment, and that Mercedes also declined to comment. The German news agency SID said that Wolff could not be reached.

HRT, or Hispania Racing Team, was a Spanish Formula One team that competed in the championship from 2010 to 2012. The team was founded by Spanish businessman José Ramón Carabante and was originally known as Campos Meta 1, but the name was changed to Hispania Racing Team shortly before the start of the 2010 season.

HRT struggled to establish itself in Formula One and faced financial difficulties throughout its existence. The team used chassis from the defunct Toyota team in its first season, but the car was not competitive and failed to score any points. The team also struggled with driver and management changes during its first season.

For the 2011 season, HRT switched to using chassis from the Italian constructor Dallara. The team's performance improved slightly, but it still failed to score any points throughout the season. The team also faced financial difficulties and was put up for sale during the season.

HRT continued to struggle financially in 2012 and entered the season with a limited budget. The team failed to qualify for several races and did not score any points throughout the season. In November 2012, HRT announced that it would not compete in the 2013 season due to financial difficulties.

Despite its struggles, HRT provided opportunities for several drivers to compete in Formula One, including Narain Karthikeyan, Tonio Liuzzi, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pedro de la Rosa. The team also contributed to the development of young drivers through its use of its own F1 team in the 2012 season, which was called HRT F1 Team Junior.