The new controversial FIA marches on and its high profile Formula One activities are now a regular feature of the monthly new cycle. Mohamed Ben Sulayem is now half way through his term as president and from the off he made it clear he was going to do things differently from his predecessor Jean Todt.

First up was the matter of the final race in Abu Dhabi where race director Michael Massi made an unusual ruling over a safety car restart. This caught out Mercedes who assumed they would have cars between their race leader and the chasing Verstappen, but Massi decided to allow those lapped cars to overtake Hamilton setting up a final lap shootout.

 

 

 

New FIA determined to force change

Mercedes failed to pit Hamilton under the safety car for fresh rubber unlike Red Bull and Verstappen which led to the dutch driver overtaking the Mercedes driver, winning the race and claiming the title.

The response from Mercedes was to lawyer up quickly, though they dropped this idea within hours the end of the race. In an act of defiance, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff along with Hamilton decided they would refuse to attend the end of season FIA gala.

Hamilton having finished second in the drivers’ title race was mandated along with the other top three to attend the gala but refused to do so. Ben Sulayem made it public he would discipline Hamilton for this which eventually resulted in Lewis paying an undisclosed fine to the FIA.

Ben Sulayem then sought to enforce an FIA regulation over wearing jewellery which the stewards had ignored for a number of years. Of course Hamilton is famous for his bling attire and once again became the focus of what some described as a “witch hunt” for the seven times world champion.

Verstappen huge bonus but Hamilton gets nothing

 

 

 

Track limits farce in Austria

Strict enforcement of the track limits – never before done by the F1 stewards – was another controversial move from the new FIA which saw over 100 incidents referred to the stewards during the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.

The FIA president has also come under fire for commenting on the rumours of a potential offer from Saudi Arabia to buy the commercial rights from Liberty Media. A valuation of around $18b was mooted and Ben Sulayem decided to remind the American based owners that the FIA leased the championship to them and it was not theirs to sell without agreement from the sport’s regulatory body.

Legal threats ensued from Liberty Media demanding the FIA comment no further on commercial matters related to F1 and should the valuation of of their shareholding be diminished they would sue for damages against the FIA and its officers.

Shortly after this event, Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced the FIA was opening a process for new F1 teams to apply to in the sport. This again upset Liberty Media given there would likely be an on cost in them having to increase the prize money to ensure the existing ten teams were not diluted.

FIA “raid” of F1 teams HQ with “zero notice

 

 

 

Andretti application a power play

Five applications were received but just Andretti Motorsport Global were finally approved by the FIA to compete in the future. The green light was given the the American based racing company early October, but it seems Liberty Media and FOM are now dragging their feet in terms of a response.

Andretti claim they will be ready to go racing in 2025, one year before the new Concorde agreement is in place. Under that agreement Andretti are to be charged $200m entry fee which the teams and Liberty believe to be way too low.

This fee will be substantially increased to around $600m from 2026 onwards. Andretti have until June 2024 to register for the 2025 championship so the longer Liberty delay their decision the future of how eleven teams will receive their share of the commercial income is in doubt.

In an attempt to play down the wall of silence emanating from Liberty Media over the Andretti entry, Ben Sulayem recently sought to play down the fact there could be litigation from the team named after the iconic Mario Andretti should the June 2024 deadline approach.

Red Bull officially warn Perez

 

 

 

F1 right of review cut short

“We don’t have to go to court, and I don’t think any of us will go to court,” Ben Sulayem said. “I mean, maybe it sounds very exciting and thrilling to the media, but it will not go to court. I’m sure of that. Why should we go to court?” 

Of course the FIA are somewhat out of the loop now having performed their legal responsibility to scrutinise the F1 application and give it the year or nay, but this by no means there will be no legal action should Liberty drag their heels beyond the cars hitting the track once again in Bahrain early March next year.

Certain F1 regulations sit solely within the domain of the FIA whilst others require agreement from the F1 commission where they had just one third of the votes. However, for 2024 the F1 regulatory body is to enforce certain rule changes without the consent of other parties.

This season we saw a number of protests/reviews made days after the Grand Prix had finished and the stewards posted their final race classification. The current rules allow this for up to 14 days after the chequered flag.

Ferrari admit talks with Hamilton

 

 

 

FIA awarded themselves review rights

Clearly this is unacceptable, given in the modern era of formula One an back to back races, another event may have taken place before the protest is raised. So the time allowed for request to review will now be 96 hours in 2024 and teams will be charged a fee in an attempt to stop spurious protests which would never go anywhere.

“The period during which a petition for review may be brought expires after 96 hours from the end of the competition concerned, except in circumstances where the stewards consider that compliance with the 96-hour deadline would be impossible, in which case the stewards may extend this deadline by no more than 24 hours,” the official FIA ruling now states.

To counter erroneous race decisions made during the Grand Prix, the FIA have now awarded themselves the right to request a review any decisions made by race control.

Further fines available to the stewards have now been raised and now capped for F1 at €1m.

Wolff admits Mercedes may go backwards in 2024

 

 

 

Verstappen fans targeted over flares

Another rule change being made appears to target Max Verstappen and his fans. It is common in the Netherlands and at the Austrian Grand Prix to see grandstands full of orange dressed Verstappen followers.

And at these two Grand Prix in particular the fans regularly set of orange flares which for a few minutes create smoke blowing across the circuit.

The FIA is now banning the unauthorised used of fireworks and flares at F1 Grand Prix from its mandate as the regulator of all things health and safety. As was the case with Hamilton and the jewellery ban, this of course is applicable for all flares and colours supporting any team or driver.

Yet as Lewis complained the jewellery ban  appeared directed solely at him, so the flare ban feels directed in purpose towards Max Verstappen and his army of supporters.

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