FIA vs F1: the cracks show after social media war of words

But Andretti and General Motors is so big on the face of it that it does seem tough to ignore. In fact, for Mohammed Ben Sulayem it has proven impossible to ignore.

The tweet that Ben Sulayem put out last week stating he had asked the FIA to look into opening up the process that allows Expressions of Interest to be submitted had a slight air of the president going rogue, but that appeared to be dampened when the Andretti-Cadillac announcement was made.

At that stage it appeared Ben Sulayem was merely pre-empting the questions that would come the FIA’s way after such a partnership was confirmed. And the FIA’s awareness was only exemplified by it having a presence on the call with Andretti and GM, as well as a pre-prepared statement itself.

But just because F1 then issued a more lukewarm response – to a team that has not yet even been able to submit an Expression of Interest, don’t forget – the president was back on Twitter on Sunday to say it was “surprising that there has been some adverse reaction to the Cadillac and Andretti news”.

Now, unless he’s speaking about @RandomAccount2023 on the social media site, what was surprising was his reaction. There were no official comments from any teams, nor did F1 directly address Andretti or any of the other parties it has been speaking to. What Ben Sulayem appeared to be criticising was the lack of support from F1 for Andretti-Cadillac, having already given his own welcoming response.

And that was where the cracks really started to show publicly. Division between the FIA and F1 is not a new scenario, but it is ongoing and creeping into many different aspects of the sport. From the way sprint events were handled to Audi’s partnership with Sauber and an early release of the 2023 calendar, both entities have been wanting their share of credit, when usually one is far more deserving than the other.

Ben Sulayem vs Domenicali

For what it’s worth, I think F1’s been pushing back too hard as well.

With Ben Sulayem a year into the job and Stefano Domenicali two as F1 chairman and CEO, you’ve got two figureheads relatively new into their influential roles and trying to stamp their authority on each other.

And in doing so, they’re trying to one-up each other in the public domain — Ben Sulayem more so than Domenicali it must be said — and Andretti has become the latest battleground.

The concerns from F1’s point of view have been long-since explained. And let’s not be naive, the very reason that Andretti wants to come into the sport is because of the marketing value and commercial opportunities. As well as the desire to race in the series, it makes business sense. But does it make business sense for the sport?

With GM’s backing, it appears to make much more, but even so the anti-dilution fee to be paid by new constructors, set at $200m to compensate existing teams for a reduced share of the commercial rights, is a low bar. It devalues the existing teams compared to where they’re currently at, and by association the sport itself.

That’s not something that Ben Sulayem is overly worried about though, as he doesn’t run the commercial aspect of F1. Yet he could be credited with helping a new team that has significant public support in the US come in, and so has clearly shown he is positive about Andretti’s bid.

In turn, Michael Andretti has sided very firmly with the FIA, but in the current situation that’s two entities that have caused headaches for Domenicali at times now paired together. Doesn’t sound like the sort of partnership that the F1 boss will be particularly enamoured about.

In reality, though, neither Ben Sulayem nor Domenicali get to make the decision alone. As much as they might not like it, they need each other to agree on a new team if they want to see it granted entry, and in that sense it’s simply a microcosm of the wider picture within the sport.

So far, there has been nothing major to upset the overall applecart, with those examples of troublesome topics being about as disruptive as the situation has got.

And that’s because F1 and the FIA are too intertwined. On the biggest of issues, they need each other.

But it doesn’t mean the squabbling won’t continue. F1 wants a co-operative and effective FIA, while the FIA wants to ensure its presence is felt on certain topics, and — like everyone involved — to feel like they’re getting their fair share as the sport grows. As an elected president, however, Ben Sulayem needs to tread the fine line of defending the FIA’s interests and ensuring he doesn’t weaken his own position by undermining the relationship with Domenicali and F1.

The Andretti-Cadillac project isn’t the first time they’ve allowed opposing positions behind the scenes to become more public disagreements, and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s just a very valuable and high-profile one.