SUMMARY
- F1 owners Liberty Media are not happy with FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem's actions.
- David Richards and Robert Reid are favored by F1 to replace Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
It is basically an open secret that F1 owners, Liberty Media are not happy with Mohammed Ben Sulayem as the president of the FIA. This has put the governing body under a lot of pressure to take some action. F1 has already started lining up replacements for the FIA president.
The sport is very dependent on the FIA for the rules and regulations, operations, and a number of other aspects. So in order to function smoothly, Formula 1 will need the FIA to have a supported leader at the helm. Ben Sulayem doesn’t seem to be satisfying F1 at the moment.
F1 not happy with Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s leadership of the FIA
A few weeks back, the FIA initiated an investigation into Toto Wolff and his wife. The investigation was based on an article that was published. The piece said that Toto Wolff had access to confidential information which was provided by his wife who is the Managing Director of the F1 Academy.
It was reported that one or more of the team bosses had anonymously complained about this to the media. However, after the investigation was announced by the FIA, all the teams and F1 stood by the Wolff family. After this, there were rumors that F1 was planning to break away from the FIA and become an independent series.
🚨 | Liberty Media could lose patience with the FIA, according to @BBCSport sources.
F1’s owners are reportedly unhappy with the actions of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. pic.twitter.com/yrFlzDilEk
— formularacers (@formularacers_) December 6, 2023
A few days back, it was reported that Steve Nielsen who started his role as the FIA’s Sporting Director in January 2023, left the position before even completing a year. It was reported that he felt the FIA was not willing to make certain changes for the good. This added to the list of negative media towards the FIA. There were also some recent recordings of Mohammed Ben Sulayem which portrayed him to be sexist and misogynist.
There is no doubt that the FIA is under a lot of pressure at the moment due to these incidents. However, if F1 were to part ways with the FIA, things would be a bit more complicated than expected. Hence, a change in leadership within the FIA seems more practical.
Who will replace Mohammed Ben Sulayem as FIA president?
According to the reports, David Richards and Robert Reid could line up to replace Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Richards has a lot of experience in F1. He was the team principal for BAR and Benneton F1 teams in the 80s and 90s. He is now the chairman of Motorsport UK.
Robert Reid is also a well-renowned person in motorsports. Both of these people have been approved by Liberty Media, the owners of F1. However, F1 cannot officially decide to replace the current FIA President.
In order to remove the sitting president of the FIA, there needs to be some proof of misconduct. Without this, no one can remove the sitting president. However, there is a possible scenario that could be the beginning of the end for Mohammed Ben Sulayem as FIA president.
The FIA has announced the formation of a new working group to address the future direction of rallying that will be headed by Robert Reid and David Richards.
Full story ⬇️https://t.co/BAMZkVEEph
— Autosport (@autosport) December 5, 2023
Although the FIA has dropped its investigation on the Wolff family, Toto and Susie Wolff are not satisfied. They want to know who was behind the launch of the investigation without proper proof. If Mohammed Ben Sulayem is found to be involved in this, it could be enough reason for him to be removed from his position.
Even if the sitting president is to be replaced, F1 cannot decide who the replacement will be. The FIA stands as the governing body for several motorsport events around the world. However, F1 does bring in the most business for the FIA. As a result, they will have a high influence.
It will be interesting to see how the FIA handles this situation and what sort of influence F1 will have. Do you think David Richards or Robert Reid will replace Mohammed Ben Sulayem for President of the FIA? Post your answers in the comments section below.