FIA president under investigation
Alleged attempt to interfere in F1 race
FIA president under investigation. The head of FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is being investigated for allegedly interfering with the outcome of a Formula 1 race. It has been reported that a whistleblower has informed FIA that Ben Sulayem intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2023. A report by an FIA compliance officer has been seen by BBC Sport which states that the whistleblower claims Ben Sulayem contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamas bin Isa Al Khalifa, the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, who was present at the race in an official capacity, and made his views clear on Alonso’s penalty.
Ben Sulayem and the FIA have not responded to requests for comment. The whistleblower alleges that Ben Sulayem “pretended the stewards to overturn their decision to issue” the penalty to Alonso. In Italian, the word “pretendere” means to require or expect. The ethics committee is expected to issue its report within four to six weeks. Alonso was given a 10-second penalty for work done on his car while he was serving a previous five-second penalty, which dropped him from third place to fourth, placing him behind Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, as well as Mercedes’ George Russell. Removing the penalty returned him to a podium position. BBC Sport has verified the information with several senior figures in F1 and close to the FIA. Although none of them were willing to go on the record, they all confirmed having the same information.
BBC Sport on Twitter: “BREAKING 🚨FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for allegedly interfering over an F1 race result.Story below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yiHZAEhAb5 / Twitter”
BREAKING 🚨FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for allegedly interfering over an F1 race result.Story below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yiHZAEhAb5
What happened in Saudi Arabia in 2023?
Alonso was initially given a five-second penalty for leaving his starting box on the grid during the race. The penalty was served during his first pit stop. However, later on, he was given a ten-second penalty because his team, Aston Martin, had violated the rules while working on his car. The penalty was imposed because the rear jack touched Alonso’s car before the designated time, which is against the F1 rules.
Initially, the stewards had overturned the decision because of a discussion between F1 teams and the FIA regarding working on cars during a penalty in the pit. However, the right of review decision states that there was no clear agreement regarding whether touching a car with a jack would qualify as “working on the car.”
At the time, Article 54.4c) of the sporting regulations stated that a car could not be worked on while stationary in the pit lane due to incurring a penalty until the duration of the penalty had elapsed.
Subsequently, an additional sentence was added after the Alonso incident, stating that “touching the car or driver by hand or tools or equipment will all constitute working.” If this sentence had been in place earlier, then the stewards’ initial decision would have been correct without any confusion.
Chintan Pavlankar on Twitter: “Wow! What a start to the F1 2023 Bahrain GP with a historic podium finish by @alo_official and @astonmartin on P3. Aston Martin has emerged as a new contender, with @scuderiaferrari and @MercedesAMGF1 struggling to keep up with @redbullracing. AMR23 secures Alonso on podium and… pic.twitter.com/wuXV1MUnb9 / Twitter”
Wow! What a start to the F1 2023 Bahrain GP with a historic podium finish by @alo_official and @astonmartin on P3. Aston Martin has emerged as a new contender, with @scuderiaferrari and @MercedesAMGF1 struggling to keep up with @redbullracing. AMR23 secures Alonso on podium and… pic.twitter.com/wuXV1MUnb9
What is the context for this?
The most recent scandal to involve Ben Sulayem, who was elected in December 2021, is the revelation that there was an attempt to interfere with a penalty decision. This is just one in a series of controversies that have surrounded his presidency.
The FIA launched an inquiry into Toto and Susie Wolff, the Mercedes team principals, due to allegations of a conflict of interest that were published in a magazine. However, the inquiry was quickly withdrawn after just two days following strong objections from Mercedes, F1, and the other nine teams. All confirmed that they had not made any complaints against the Wolffs.
Insiders suggest that the FIA may face legal action over their handling of the Wolffs matter.
Throughout his first year in office, Ben Sulayem’s presidency was plagued by a series of controversies that caused concern within the F1 community. As a result, senior figures called for him to be replaced.
After facing pressure over the winter of 2022-23, Ben Sulayem announced that he would take a step back from direct involvement in F1, citing his “stated objective to be a non-executive president”.
The controversies included but were not limited to:
- Blocking for six months an agreement between the teams and commercial rights holders to double the number of sprint weekends for 2023
- Receiving a “cease-and-desist” letter from F1’s lawyers following his reaction on social media to a story claiming Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had tried to buy the sport for $20bn
- The emergence of a website that quoted him making misogynistic remarks
Ben Sulayem has said his intervention over the sprints was to ensure the FIA had sufficient resources to handle the change; he has not commented on the cease-and-desist letter.
He defended historical sexist remarks on his website in an interview with the Press Association last November, saying: “What did I say, if I said it? Let’s assume it was [me]. I tell you exactly what it said. It says: ‘I hate when women think they are smarter than us’. But they hate when men think they are smarter than them.
“Did I say we are smarter? No. Did I say they are less smarter? No. For God’s sake, if that is the only thing they have against me, please be my guest, you can do worse than that.”
Exodus from FIA
A number of senior figures have resigned from the FIA in recent months. These include Steve Nielsen, who took on the role of sporting director in early 2023 and resigned before he had spent a year in his role; the head of the women’s commission Deborah Mayer; Gerd Ennser, the head of German motorsport’s authority the ADAC, who quit his role as an FIA steward; lawyers Pierre Ketterer and Ed Floyd; and FIA single-seater director Tim Goss.
None of these figures have given public explanations for their departure from the FIA. Goss, a former McLaren technical director, took a job as chief technical officer of Red Bull’s RB team.