SUMMARY
- A recent report claims that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is currently under investigation.
- The Emirati former rally driver allegedly tried to intervene in a F1 race outcome.
It has been a pretty wild last few weeks in the Formula 1 world. The 2024 season has just started, and there has already been plenty of drama off the track. The recent news is that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is currently under investigation. This comes just days after Christian Horner’s drama with Red Bull and Helmut Marko. It certainly looks like F1 fans are in for quite the season this year.
BREAKING 🚨
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for allegedly interfering with an F1 race result.
Story below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yiHZAEhAb5
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 4, 2024
A whistleblower has reported to the FIA that Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly tried to influence an F1 race outcome directly. Several reports claim that he allegedly called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa) in an attempt to intervene in the race result. The recent news has raised questions about which F1 race the FIA president reportedly tried to get involved in.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly tried to get Fernando Alonso’s penalty at the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP overturned
News outlets claim that the former Emirati rally driver allegedly attempted to get Fernando Alonso‘s penalty overturned. It is claimed that he did this by calling the FIA’s vice-president for the Middle Eastern region, and mentioning that the penalty should not be at play.
🚨 | The President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for alleged attempt to interfere over a race result.
A whistleblower has told the FIA that Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi… pic.twitter.com/N8UWM4zvxG
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) March 4, 2024
For some context, the Spaniard was slapped with a 10-second penalty in Jeddah and landed in fourth place behind Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen, and George Russell. Alonso was already serving a five-second time penalty for placing his car outside the starting box. That was when the Aston Martin‘s pit crew came into contact with his car with a rear jack. This was the reason why Alonso had to serve a 10-second time penalty, although it was given much later in the race.
Was Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s alleged attempt successful?
The whistleblower claims that the 62-year-old expected the stewards to overturn their decision, and revoke the penalty that was given to Alonso. The decision was indeed overturned, and the Aston Martin superstar bagged his 100th F1 career podium. He finished above George Russell after the 10-second penalty was revoked.
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso’s third place in Jeddah is reinstated!#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/afmhn9rh3B
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
At the time, Article 54.4c of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations stated, “Whilst a car is stationary in the pit lane as a result of incurring a penalty in accordance with Articles 54.3a) or 54.3b), it may not be worked on until the car has been stationary for the duration of the penalty.”
This was before Alonso’s podium was reinstated. But after the incident, the following rule was added: “Whilst a car is stationary in the pit lane as a result of incurring a penalty in accordance with Articles 54.3a) or 54.3b) above, it may not be worked on until the car has been stationary for the duration of the penalty. In this context, touching the car or driver by hand or tools or equipment will all constitute working.”
Regarding the controversy surrounding Mohammed Ben Sulayem, he hasn’t commented on the report, and it will likely remain that way in the coming days. With that said, fans must note that the news comes from a whistleblower, which means it could be fabricated as well.