FIA president for life? Every Mohammed Ben Sulayem controversy so far as term limits are axed

His first unenviable task was to clear up the fallout and steady the ship, yet he immediately created controversy in his first press conference.

Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff refused to attend the FIA gala that night in protest of the Abu Dhabi events, breaking rules that require the presence of the top three drivers in the championship and the constructors’ title winners.

Inevitably, Ben Sulayem was asked whether Hamilton would be punished for this transgression. Rather than defusing the situation, he said: “We have to follow our rules. But it doesn’t stop us from making a champion feel good about the sport. It’s easy to be nice to people. But definitely if there is any breach, there is no forgiveness in this.”

In the end no action was taken but it set the tone for the months to come.

Fallout over Abu Dhabi

January 2023 

Concerns continued to grow with the handling of the fall-out from Abu Dhabi. Todt’s last act as president was to launch an inquiry, but it took two months before the FIA took any official action by removing the race director Michael Masi and announcing a restructure of race control. There was a further month before the report was published.

It talked of “human error” and said Masi had not operated the safety car according to the regulations. But many regarded its conclusions as insubstantial and failing to get to the heart of what had gone wrong.

Hamilton row as FIA clamps down on jewellery

April 2022  

The FIA chose to make an issue of drivers wearing jewellery and non-regulation underwear during races. Existing rules banned the practice, but did not appear to have been enforced for years until they were raised at the Australian Grand Prix and presented as the wish of new race director Niels Wittich. The suggestion in the paddock was that this was being pushed by Ben Sulayem.

The predictable effect was to create a stand-off with Lewis Hamilton, who said that his nose ring could not be removed easily, while the FIA insisted that all of its rules should be followed.

A compromise was reached with a series of medical exemptions for the seven-time world champion but was only resolved at the British Grand Prix in July when Hamilton confirmed that the ring had been removed.

FIA and F1 clash over additional sprint race

April 2022 

Ben Sulayem blocked a unanimous agreement between the teams and F1 to increase the number of sprint races in 2023 from three to six.

Publicly, he said he wanted time to analyse its effect on workload at race control, but teams quickly briefed that he had asked F1 to increase the fee it pays to the FIA to run race weekends. “This might be the first stand-off of many between the F1 and FIA,” we wrote at the time. By the time 2023 arrived, there were six sprints on the calendar.

Controversies escalate in first presidential interview

June 2022 

In his first interview as president, Ben Sulayem seemed to indicate that he was not in favour of drivers speaking out on political and social issues.

“Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving,” Ben Sulayem said. “Now, [Sebastian] Vettel drives a rainbow bicycle, Lewis is passionate about human rights and [Lando] Norris addresses mental health.

“Everybody has the right to think. To me, it is about deciding whether we should impose our beliefs in something over the sport all the time. I am from an Arabian culture. I am international and Muslim. I do not impose my beliefs on other people. No way! Never.”

The drivers were unimpressed, and there was increasing concern within F1. Ben Sulayem later issued a clarifying social media post.

“As a driver, I have always believed in sport as a catalyst of progress in society,” he wrote. “That is why promoting sustainability, diversity and inclusion is a key priority of my mandate. In the same way, I value the commitment of all drivers and champions for a better future.”

FIA and F1 continue to clash

August 2022

The controversies kept coming when Ben Sulayem intervened on the issue of the new generation of ground effect cars ‘porpoising’. It was described as a driver welfare issue, after complaints that the cars’ tendency to bounce at high speeds, with the floor crashing into the asphalt with force, was causing serious pain. But this dismayed Red Bull — largely unaffected by the issue — which felt that a resolution would benefit Mercedes.

Ben Sulayem then published the 2023 calendar early, without telling F1 president Stefano Domenicali or the teams that he was doing so — even though it is F1 which draws up the calendar. 

Cost cap haggling

October 2022

As the 2022 F1 season drew to a close, the controversies only gained momentum.

Red Bull was found to be the only team to have breached the cost cap in 2021, and negotiated its penalty with the FIA — as permitted by the financial regulations. Many thought that the team had been let off lightly when the penalty — a fine and reduced aerodynamic testing time — was announced. Christian Horner described the testing reduction as “an enormous amount”. Ferrari said that it was too low.

Drivers banned from speaking out

December 2022

In the winter of 2022, a clause was added into the sporting code that prohibits drivers from making “political, religious and personal statements or comments” without the written permission of the FIA, the impression being he was trying to muzzle them.

Initially, there was no public explanation of exactly what it meant or why it was done and several drivers voiced their opposition to the move at the start of the following season, including Max Verstappen, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas.

The FIA subsequently issued a three-page document to clarify the clause, explaining that drivers could still “express their views on any political, religious or personal matter… outside the scope of the international competition” and  “in their own space”. This would include through social media, as well as in interviews or press conferences.

It said that events “should not be used as a platform for international advocacy” and that drivers “are not permitted to make political, religious and/or personal statements in violation of the general principle of neutrality” during the pre-race drivers’ parade and national anthem, as well as in the podium ceremony or cool-down room.

Race Control

Throughout 2022

Throughout 2022, there were also rumblings of discontent about the operation of race control: from a refusal to put a barrier at a corner where two drivers crashed in Miami, through bungling the start process at Monaco, failing to get the Italian Grand Prix restarted after a safety car and, worst of all, sending a recovery vehicle out on track in conditions of almost zero visibility at Suzuka – reviving memories of Jules Bianchi’s ultimately fatal crash there eight years before.

FIA backs Andretti bid

January 2023

Discord between Ben Sulayem and F1 was obvious over Andretti’s bid to join the Formula 1 grid. Ben Sulayem offered public support for the Michael Andretti-led team to become an eleventh constructor, and approved its application, only for it to be rejected by Formula 1 in early 2024, reflecting widespread objections from the teams over having to share their revenue with an additional constructor.

The bid was eventually reinvented, headed by Cadillac, which joined the grid in 2026.

Ben Sulayem questions F1 value

January 2023 

For the listed company that is F1, money and values are a legislated subject, so Ben Sulayem incensed it when he published a series of social media posts in response to a news report claiming that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had tried and failed to buy F1 for $20bn.

Ben Sulayem referred to this as an “alleged inflated price tag”, adding that “any potential buyer is advised to apply common sense, consider the greater good of the sport and come with a clear, sustainable plan – not just a lot of money”.

It brought a swift rebuke from F1’s lawyers, who sent a letter claiming that the posts “interfere with our rights in an unacceptable manner” and warning of “regulatory consequences” for “commenting on the value of a listed entity or its subsidiaries, especially claiming or implying possession of inside knowledge while doing so, risks causing substantial damage to the shareholders and investors of that entity”.

An FIA spokesperson said only that Ben Sulayem had merely wished to express his personal opinion.

A note from the past

January 2023

Further alarm bells rang when pages from an archived website emerged a few days later containing historic misogynistic remarks, in which Ben Sulayem said he did not “like women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth”.

The comments were met with dismay and anger at a series that has been vocal in championing diversity in recent years. The FIA said the remarks “do not reflect the president’s beliefs”. 

A step back

February 2023

In response to the new rules restricting drivers’ freedom of speech, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali stated that the series “will never put a gag on anyone” and reiterated the importance of giving each “a platform to discuss their opinions in an open way.”

Less than a day after Domenicali’s statement, the FIA President announced he would be taking a step back from direct involvement in F1.

Driver fines quadrupled

October 2023

F1 drivers were outraged after the FIA raised the maximum fine that they could face from €250,000 (£211,000) to €1m (£843,000). George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) pointed out that the amount was higher than many F1 drivers earn in a year and questioned where the revenue from fines was going.

“We’ve requested before from the FIA to hear where those fines are going towards. It needs to be reinvested into grass roots, but so far, we’ve had no response on where that’s going.

“We’d love to get some clarity and transparency. If it’s going to re-invest into the sport, then maybe one of the drivers who is being paid a lot is happy to pay that fine. But it seems obscene.”

Cleared of interfering in race decisions

March 2024

Ben Sulayem had been accused of wrongly interfering in race officials’ decisions but was cleared of the allegations in early 2024.

The first claim concerned the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where Fernando Alonso served a five-second penalty ahead of his pitstop. During this time, a mechanic pushed a rear jack onto the back of the car, which was deemed to have breached a rule that prevents work being carried out on a car while a penalty is being served. As a result, a further 10sec penalty was applied at the end of the race.

It was reported that Ben Sulayem then contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa — the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region — and called for the penalty to be revoked.

Aston Martin also appealed, offering evidence that the rules were not clear, and of other drivers going unpunished when the rear jack had touched their cars while serving penalties. Alonso’s 10-second penalty was overturned.

A second allegation accused Ben Sulayem of attempting to prevent the new Las Vegas circuit from being certified by the FIA for racing. The whistleblower is reported to have said that the president had issued a request to find concerns that would prevent a certificate from being issued, therefore preventing the race from being held. A cancellation would have resulted in severe embarrassment and financial loss for F1, which had invested tens of millions of pounds into the race, and had focused much of its publicity on the event.

F1’s swear jar

September 2024

Ben Sulayem announced a crackdown on swearing ahead of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix after an interview where he spoke about the amount of swearing in driver radio messages. “We’re not rappers, you know.” he said clumsily, which immediately brought a response from Lewis Hamilton, who complained of a “racial element” to the comments.

Max Verstappen then waded in at the pre-race conference, when he described his car at the previous race as “f***ed”. In the wake of Ben Sulayem’s comments earlier in the week, a response was swift and Verstappen was ordered to carry out “some work of public interest”. This F1 community service was eventually completed in Rwanda, where he attended a development programme for budding racing drivers.

Verstappen made a mockery of the punishment by saying little in the official, FIA-sanctioned post-qualifying press conference, but then speaking freely to journalists outside.

The system, however, appeared inconsistent when Charles Leclerc was fined €10,000 (£8,445) — half of which was suspended for a year — for swearing at the Mexican Grand Prix in November. Stewards said that they had taken into account an immediate apology from Leclerc.

“Treat us like adults”

November 2024

The punishments for swearing appeared to tip the GPDA into action, and it sent an open letter to Ben Sulayem listing the grievances that had built up over his term as president.

“Our members are professional drivers, racing in Formula 1, the pinnacle of international motorsport. They are gladiators and every racing weekend they put on a great show for the fans,” it read.

“With regards to swearing, there is a difference between swearing intended to insult others and more casual swearing… We urge the FIA President to also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Further, our members are adults, they do not need to be given instructions via the media, about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewellery and underpants.

“The GPDA has, on countless occasions, expressed its view that driver monetary fines are not appropriate for our sport. For the past three years, we have called upon the FIA President to share the details and strategy regarding how the FIA’s financial fines are allocated and where the funds are spent. We once again request that the FIA President provides financial transparency and direct, open dialogue with us.”

Ben Sulayem’s reaction was not conciliatory. “None of their business,” he told Autosport. “Sorry. With all respect, I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race.”

More high profile departures

November 2024

Niels Wittich

Beginning an eventful few weeks for the FIA and its president Ben Sulayem, it was announced in November that F1 race director Niels Wittich had “stepped down” from his role with immediate effect, despite the world championship still having several races left to run.

However, Wittich told Germany’s motorsport-magazin.com “I have not resigned”, going on to say he’d been fired.

The FIA said it could not provide a reason for him leaving his post, but the BBC reported that it was due to Wittich’s deteriorating relationship with Ben Sulayem.

Wittich was only the latest most high profile official in a number of recent exits.

Deborah Mayer, Steve Nielsen, Tim Goss & Natalie Robyn

Head of the FIA commission for women Deborah Mayer left in late 2023, followed by sporting director Steve Nielsen that December, the latter having been in the job for less than a year.

Tim Goss vacated his role as single-seater technical director in January 2024, and in May Natalie Robyn exited as chief executive officer after 18 months in the role.

Tim Mayer, Paolo Basarri & Janette Tan

Following Wittich, next on the chopping block was senior steward Tim Mayer, FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri and recently installed F2 race director Janette Tan, who was so new in the job she hadn’t overseen a single race yet.

“There aren’t a lot of ‘platinum-level’ FIA race directors, which is the FIA’s highest level certification,” commented Mayer. “I’m one of them. It’s a lot of work and, if you are doing the job right, you wake up every day with an ulcer thinking of all the various things you need to be thinking about.

“They’re not doing themselves any favours. They are literally running out of people to do those jobs.”

Mayer claimed he’d been removed because he represented the Circuit of the Americas in a ‘right of review’ hearing after the FIA fined the circuit €500,000 for a track invasion, when a similar ‘offence’ this season only led to a warning for Montreal.

Mayer said that Ben Sulayem took umbrage at him representing COTA on this occasion, a role he’d performed many times previously alongside being a steward, and had him removed.

President consolidates political power

December 2024

Ben Sulayem made moves to limit how the FIA can be held to account for bad governance at the end of the third year of his first term.

National motor sport associations approved his proposal that ethics complaints should be reviewed by the FIA president and president of its senate, rather than the senate itself. It also removed the power of the audit committee to investigate financial issues independently.

“I’ve got reservations about a number of issues within the changes,” Motorsport UK chairman David Richards told the BBC. “This is a fundamental debate about how governance should work within the FIA and the opportunity for proper, open debate on these matters.”

The finances of Ben Sulayem’s private office also came under scrutiny with the establishment of a $1.5m ‘president’s development fund’ which would go to member clubs – these clubs vote for the FIA president.

“Generally, if you look at it in a positive way, it could have its own reality show with what’s happening at the moment,” commented Toto Wolff. “I think all of our stakeholders need to bear in mind that we need to protect this holy grail of a sport, that it is, and do it with responsibility and accountability and transparency. And it doesn’t come across like that.”

Race bans for swearing

January 2025

New stewarding guidelines issued by the FIA recommended fines of €40,000 for a first offence of swearing in a press conference, rising to €120,000, plus a one month racing ban and deduction of championship points for the third offence.

The recommended penalties for swearing are identical to those for assault — although stewards do have the discretion to adjust the penalty, taking into account mitigating or aggravating factors.

The same scale of penalties applies to drivers who, through their “words, deeds or writings” cause “moral injury or loss” to the FIA, its members or executive officers, which looked likely to mute criticism of Ben Sulayem.

The crackdown on political or religious statements continued. Making these during an F1 event incurs the same scale of penalties from €40,000 for the first offence to €120,000, a month’s ban and deduction of championship points for the the third — with a public apology also required in each case.

“Gagging order” for World Motor Sport Council members

March 2025

Behind-the-scenes disgruntlement at Ben Sulayem bubbled into the open in early March when David Richards, the highly-respected chairman of Prodrive, who also heads British racing’s governing body, Motorsport UK, wrote a scathing letter to his members, outlining several concerns regarding the FIA and its president, and threatening legal action.

The tipping point was a February meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, which sets international racing rules and standards. All members of the high-level Council, including Richards, were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement with the stated aim of reducing leaks.

Richards saw it differently. “The final straw for me…was being asked to sign a new confidentiality agreement that I regarded as a ‘gagging order’,” he wrote in the letter. “The construction of this new confidentiality agreement does not comply with the Statutes of the FIA and contradicts the promise of transparent governance we had voted for.”

He went on to express concerns about the lack of a “process or frame of reference” to rule on any alleged breaches of the agreement, which carry an “an immediate fine of €50,000 [£42,000] for any breach and a threat of undisclosed damages”.

Richards did not sign the agreement and was unable to join the meeting. “This was in total breach of the FIA statutes that require all elected members be given full access to meetings,” he added.

The letter also outlined the various ways that Ben Sulayem had lost the confidence of Richards over the years, setting out his promises to be a “hands-off president” who delegated the day-to-day running of the FIA to an executive team, including a CEO, ensuring “professional standards”, “full transparency of actions” and “highest standards of sporting governance”.

“I’m afraid that over the last three years there has been a distinct failure to meet these promises,” wrote Richards. “In fact, the situation has progressively worsened with media reports confirming that numerous senior members of the FIA and volunteer officials have either been fired or have resigned under an opaque cloud.

“Furthermore, the scope of the Audit and Ethics Committees has been severely limited and now lacks autonomy from the authority of the president, while our UK representative, who challenged certain matters, was summarily removed along with the chair of the Audit Committee.

“Various techniques have also been deployed with the effect of limiting the proper function of the World Motor Sport Council, primarily the use of e-voting which removes the opportunity for much needed discussion and debate on key subjects.”

Richards warns FIA of ‘shift of moral compass’ as deputy president for sport Reid quits

April 2025

Following the previous letter from Richards, the FIA’s general manager Alberto Villareal responded to the Briton with another letter of his own, telling him the FIA struggled to understand why Richards would not sign the confidentiality clause.

Richards followed up by publishing another letter on Motorsport UK’s website, accusing the FIA of lack of transparency and saying the ruling body couldn’t afford the “shift of moral compass” carried out by Ben Sulayem.

“The governance and constitutional organisation of the FIA is becoming ever more opaque and concentrating power in the hands of the President alone,” Richards wrote.

“I stand by my statement that this is in effect a ‘gagging order’ and yet these points are simply batted away by Alberto, the FIA General Manager. Furthermore, the subsequent action to exclude me from the WMSC meeting is in contravention with the FIA Statutes and unlawful under French law.”

Less than a day after Richard’s letter, Reid announced he had quit the governing body out of principle.

“When I took on this role, it was to serve the FIA’s members; not to serve power,” Reid wrote. “Over time, I have witnessed a steady erosion of the principles we promised to uphold. Decisions are being made behind closed doors, bypassing the very structures and people the FIA exists to represent.

“My resignation is not about personalities; it is about principles.”

Ben Sulayem gets veto right over presidential challengers

June 2025

Ben Sulayem gained broader powers after the FIA’s General Assembly approved controversial changes to its statutes. These changes allowed the president to block any rival candidate whose record “questions their professional integrity” and to make the deadline for declaring candidacy earlier, so it became harder to challenge his re-election at the end of that year.

Ben Sulayem also gained has greater authority to appoint members to key FIA bodies, further consolidating his control.

The amendments passed by a large majority despite warnings from several member clubs, including Austria’s OAMTC, which argued the changes could harm the FIA’s reputation for transparent governance and appeared timed to benefit the current president.

Re-election gives “illusion of democracy”

December 2025

Ben Sulayem’s controversial first term made a challenge to his presidency initially look likely. Carlos Sainz Sr was tipped to run in the December 2025 election, but didn’t didn’t put his name forward.

Tim Mayer, who said he’d been sacked as a steward in November 2024, did announce his candidacy, then pulled out of the contest, blasting the FIA for only having the “illusion of democracy”.

Mayer pointed out that the election process made it impossible for anybody but Ben Sulayem to run for election: every candidate needed the backing of senior motor racing figures from each of the FIA’s six global regions, from a list of individuals drawn up by the FIA. Each person could only support one presidential candidate.

In South America, Fabiana Ecclestone was the only certified candidate and already aligned with Ben Sulayem.

“Quite simply, there is no choice,” Mayer said of his decision to withdraw. “There will be no vote between ideas, no contest of visions, no test of leadership. There will be only one candidate and that’s not democracy.”

Swiss driver Laura Villars also put herself forward as a candidate and took legal action in France in a bid to “safeguard transparency, ethics and pluralism within global motor sport governance”. The election went ahead, but the case is still progressing through the courts.

The FIA responded to Mayer’s comments saying the election process was structured to “ensure fairness and integrity at every stage”. Ben Sulayem was re-elected for a second term unopposed.

Three-term FIA presidency limit is removed

June 2026

The FIA’s member clubs voted to remove the presidency’s three-term limit, which would leave Ben Sulayem free to stand for the post indefinitely — if the candidacy age limit of 70 is also removed in future.

The limit was introduced by Jean Todt in the wake of Max Mosley’s four-term presidency.

In a LinkedIn post, Ben Sulayem’s former deputy president, Robert Reid wrote in defence of the existing rule. “Term limits are not a perfect safeguard,” he said. “They do not guarantee good governance. They do not prevent poor judgement. But they do create a point at which renewal must happen. They also remind an institution that office is temporary, that legitimacy must be refreshed, and that no individual should become structurally indispensable.”