The Formula 1 entourage had just changed location and packed the hope in their many suitcases on the short journey from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. after an eventful winter break and a busy start to the season to be able to concentrate more on the sporting events again. At the beginning of the new Grand Prix week, the next piece of news spread with extremely explosive content.
An informant is said to have contacted the British BBC with the information that an investigation was underway against the President of the International Automobile Association Fia. Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly campaigned for a time penalty against Fernando Alonso to be withdrawn at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 19, 2023. The BBC said it was able to view a corresponding report from a FIA compliance officer to the association’s ethics committee. In addition, the accusation was verified by people who work in high-ranking positions in Formula 1 and who are close to the FIA. They didn’t want to be quoted. Both Ben Sulayem and the FIA left inquiries unanswered.
Of course, the FIA President has to stay out of it when it comes to the sporting conduct of racing events. Responsible for this are the commissioners, who are nominated for the races by the FIA, but make their decision independently of other committees.
The ten-second penalty against Alonso was actually withdrawn a year ago in Jeddah. The cancellation process had already degenerated into a farcewhich now appears in a completely different light.
Did Ben Sulayem want to prevent clearance for the race in Las Vegas?
When the race started, Alonso had parked his car too far to the left of the starting grid. For this he had to wait five seconds. When the Spaniard lingered longer at the pit stop during a safety car phase, a mechanic pushed the jack to the rear of the Aston Martin. The race stewards saw this as a work on the car, illegally early on during a penalty. So it added ten seconds on top.
That in itself was a bit questionable because the mechanic hadn’t lifted the car. The debate about this only really broke out because Alonso was initially able to happily celebrate his 100th Formula 1 podium in third place, before it was announced that the two-time world champion was only fourth due to the late ten seconds penalty. The whole thing became a farce because more than three hours later the conclusion was: Sorry, but everything was fine, Alonso remains third!
The Stewarts justified the fact that it took them so long to make the ten-second judgment because they only had new video footage shortly before crossing the finish line that supposedly showed that the jack and the car touched. Why they then revised this ruling was explained at the time with the “Right of Review” used by Aston Martin: The racing team had presented various precedents in which mechanics had touched the car without consequences.
And now the question arises as to whether this sample folder from Alonso’s team was perhaps not so crucial to correcting the result, but rather an intervention by Ben Sulayem. According to the BBC, the 62-year-old from the United Arab Emirates is said to have called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and said that Alonso’s sentence should be overturned. The President of the Bahrain Motorsport Association and FIA Vice-President Sport of the Middle East Region was one of the officials at the Jeddah race.
In Jeddah, Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin (right) was first happy with third place, then not – and finally again.
(Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)
On Tuesday afternoon, the BBC followed up: The same whistleblower stated that he had been instructed by his superior “at the behest of the FIA President” to find reasons to withhold approval from the world association for the route of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2023 . Supposedly the aim was to identify problems, regardless of whether they actually existed. This case is also part of a report to the ethics committee, which states that the commissioners were unable to express any concerns and released the route. The BBC writes about officials whose memories differ from those of the whistleblower – in what way remains unclear.
In any case, there was actually a lot of trouble at the Vegas night spectacle, after a manhole cover came loose during a training session and a protruding piece of metal slashed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. Of all things, at the Grand Prix that is so important for Formula 1. This is evident from the fact that she is organizing a race here for the first time – and bought land for about a quarter of a billion dollars to build a permanent paddock there. Liberty Media is also estimated to have invested over $100 million in the race track.
The relationship between the FIA and Formula 1 management is tense
The current turmoil surrounding Ben Sulayem is part of a series of controversial incidents. In December he brought the Fia into the headlines with a pseudo-investigation against the couple Toto and Susie Wolff. The Mercedes team boss and the managing director of the women’s racing series F1 Academy are said to have exchanged confidential information, a conflict of interest for the compliance department. Two days later, the world association rowed back. Since former rally driver Ben Sulayem took over the FIA in December 2021, allegations of sexism have been made against him, and there was also the gag affair when drivers were supposed to be banned from making critical statements. The relationship between the FIA and the Formula 1 Management (FOM) around Stefano Domenicali is considered extremely tense.
The fact that Ben Sulayem expressed the desire to allow new teams was not well received. Neither did his statement that the market value of the series was overestimated when it came to an alleged purchase offer from Saudi Arabia worth $20 billion. The FIA is the “guardian of motorsport” and he is concerned with acting responsibly, he said. In return, the FIA received a letter from the premier class lawyers with the message that the limits of the area of responsibility and rights had been exceeded. The FIA is the umbrella organization and determines the rules, but it collects license fees for participation in the World Cup. The US company Liberty Media has owned the commercial rights since 2017.
Apparently the rifts in the power struggle between the two sides are now so deep that a split from the FIA is being considered. Recent events could have an impact on this. A result of the investigation against Mohammed Ben Sulayem is expected in four to six weeks.