The President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Mohammed Ben Sulayem, resigns from the administration of Formula 1. The leader has decided to take a step back and leave the day-to-day running of the event with greater visibility within the federation. Incidentally, it is also the one that creates the most tension. According to the Chron, the president, a former UAE rally driver, informed teams this week of his decision to step back in a maneuver aimed, whatever the official version, at reducing the atmosphere of tension felt in the last Academic year was set up in the offices.
In a year, Ben Sulayem could face more trouble than Jean Todt, his predecessor as FIA President, endured in the decade he chaired the body that governs the world’s greatest four-wheeler competition. Since he took up the position in December 2021, there have been several clashes with Liberty Media, the holder of the commercial rights to the Formula 1 World Championship, and with the participating teams.
After the news broke, the FIA was quick to say that this move was long overdue; he defined it as a “natural step”. From now on, Nikolas Tombazis, who will be promoted to technical director of the single-seater division, will be responsible for the management of Formula 1 and negotiations with Liberty Media. The Greek engineer, who was formerly at Ferrari at the time Fernando Alonso wore red (2010-2014), will be joined by Steve Nielsen, who will serve as sporting director.
With each step, Ben Sulayem stepped into a puddle, positioning himself on opposite sides of the teams and the exploitation rights holder. A few days ago, Liberty Media’s legal department sent him a letter accusing him of willfully and totally unacceptably exceeding his duties. This reaction was motivated by a series of messages published by the President of the FIA on his public Twitter profile, in which he warned of the possible consequences that the alleged sale of F1 to the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Fund (PIF) could have an alleged purchase offer of 20,000 million dollars (18,400 million euros).
This was the last fire caused by the Dubai businessman, but not the only one. One of the most recent has to do with the process that was supposed to allow two other structures to compete at the World Cup from 2026, which didn’t sit well with the current formations. At the same time, most of the grid was left dormant after the FIA announced a ban on any non-sporting claim through an amendment to the International Sporting Code; the majority defined it as an attack on freedom of expression. As if that wasn’t enough, some statements by Ben Sulayem, dating back to 2001 and published on his own website, have recently surfaced with an obvious macho streak: “Women who think they are smarter than men really aren’t.” The FIA quickly went to court, assuring that these remarks “do not reflect the thinking of their President”.
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