The election of Mohamed Ben Sulayem as the replacement president of the FIA for the outgoing Jean Todt marked a break with the past as he became the first non-European to be elected to the role. Further with a background in rallying, Ben Sulayem is only the second president in the history of the FIA with no warning experience in Formula One.
Ben Sulayem was elected on an “FIA for members” ticket and was clear he stood for an organisation which was not primarily consumed with F1. Yet almost from the moment his victory was announced, the first Arab president of F1’s governing body has been at odds with the owners of the commercial rights to F1, Liberty Media.
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The new president in 2022 refused to countenance an increase in the number of Sprint races as requested by FOM unless more funding was provided for the extra work required by FIA officials. The spat saw Ben Sulayem dig his heels in only agreeing to doubling the number of Sprint weekends a whole year later than intended by FOM.
Next up came the row over who runs Formula One. Ben Sulayem decided to engage in a process to evaluate any new F1 team entry proposals, something which the teams and FOM resisted strongly. Team principals went into PR overdrive insisting the Andretti application did not add any value and therefore diluted the investment made by existing teams.
The current Concorde Agreement addresses the matter of dilution as the teams agreed in 2022 to insert an ‘anti dilution’ fee for new teams amounting to $200m. Yet with the prospect of Andretti joining the sport, the number mysteriously was tripled as certain team principals argued the case for the status quo.
In the Autumn of last season, the FIA green lighted the Andretti entry stating: “The FIA is obliged to approve applications that comply with the expressions of interests application requirements and we have adhered to that procedure in deciding that Andretti Formula Racing LLC’s application would proceed to the next stage of the application process. In taking that decision, the FIA is acting in accordance with EU directives on motorsport participation and development.”
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After several months deliberation FOM gave its response: ”Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the championship. The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the applicant would be a competitive participant.”
All this played out against the backdrop of a public spat over who owned F1. Responding to a report that Liberty had been offered $20bn for the sport, Ben Sulayem asserted on twitter that Liberty Media only leased the sport which was in fact owned by the FIA.
This then solicited a ‘cease and desist’ letter from FOM’s lawyers threatening legal action were any of the commercial interests negatively affected by Ben Sulayem of the FIA.
Ben Sulayem then suffered a personal attack as an anonymous individual dug up some dubious quotes made 20 years ago about ‘know it all’ women. This year too the president of the FIA has been forced to answer accusations as more anonymous complaints were made to the governing body’s ethics committee.
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Ben Sulayem accused
The allegations made suggested Ben Sulayem had interfered with the result of the 2023 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix together with seeking to block the certification of the Las Vegas track in time for the inaugural event in November.
The same ethics committee also received reports last December alleging Susie Wolff had acted inappropriately, passing on confidential information to her husband. A vague statement was issued by the FIA to state an investigation would take place, only for the same body to claim less than 24 hours later there were no accusations to answer.
Wolff has since posted: “I can confirm that I personally filed a criminal complaint in the French courts on the 4th of March in relation to the statements made about me by the FIA last December,” she said in a social media post.
The attacks on Ben Sulayem have now driven a number of the FIA’s members to call for action against those trying to discredit the President and the organisation. Another group has now written to Mohammed Ben Sulayem recommending legal action over the attempts to discredit him being made by proxy.
FIA members call for legal action
The third letter to be published by the FIA was submitted by representatives of 27 ember clubs in the Middle East and North Africa region. The signatories said they “condemn, and at the same time [are] profoundly disappointed with, the unjust and relentless attempt to undermine the integrity of the FIA leadership by such unfaithful allegations to serve narrow personal agendas.”
“We strongly encourage the FIA administration to initiate legal actions against those responsible for those allegations against the FIA president,” they added.
An earlier letter had been sent by 33 member clubs representing the North and South Americas containing a similar intent. The matter is not following racial lines as 13 European member clubs also called for a review on how the Ethics Committee should be engaged, “so that this legitimate body cannot be misused anymore by third parties against the interest of our organisation.”
With around a third of the FIA member clubs putting pen to paper over the matter, this is a clear shot across the bows of the F1 owners who are assumed to be behind the accusations and attempts to discredit Ben Sulayem.
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Having been acquitted by the Ethics Committee, the FIA president had written to FIA members in March explaining he was the target of “attacks aimed at my character and our organisation as a whole” and “the ultimate goal of these reprehensible acts was to target me and to weaken the very essence of the FIA.” The FIA represents 242 motoring and motor sport clubs worldwide.
The FIA is currently head down scrambling to finalise the regulations for the new 2026 car designs which has run into late problems. Simulations this month have demonstrated the increase in electrical power and torque in the new powertrains is making the cars almost impossible to drive.
Moveable aerodynamics will be introduced to combat this, but at present the shift in aero balance when the driver deploys the additional downforce flaps is simulated at around three times the current effect when DRS is opened or closed.
The challenge is to define the moveable aero regulations to ensure the switch between the low drag and high downforce configurations is made without the cars becoming unmanageable.
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