At the time Ben Sulayem appeared to speak out of turn, diverting public attention away from the 2026 regulations before they had even been introduced yet. However, as Domenicali confirmed in an exclusive interview with Autosport this week<\/a>, there appears to be a wider consensus over the future direction of the series.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n “I definitely see personally – but it’s up, of course, to the FIA to propose that – a sort of sustainable fuel for sure at the centre of the future, with a different balance of what could be the electrification with a strong internal combustion engine,” Domenicali told Autosport.<\/p>\n “Because that’s motorsport. It will allow to save a lot of kilos, to have pure racing in that respect, in terms of a lighter car, smaller cars that you can really push as much as you can. So that’s going in the direction, I believe, that the purists should be happier.”<\/p>\n Watch: Autosport’s Exclusive Interview with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali<\/p>\n It’s one of the areas commercial rightsholder FOM and governing body the FIA are aligned on, and as time has gone it has become more of a rule than an exception. There is no sugarcoating the fact the relationship between Ben Sulayem and his commercial counterparts got off to a rocky start when he was first elected in 2021. Nor any denying that the Emirati’s hierarchical and hands-on management style initially rubbed some people the wrong way within the F1 paddock, ranging from conflicts with the drivers over swearing and jewellery to a series of high-profile departures of senior personnel within the governing body.<\/p>\n Some reservations may still be there, but insiders suggest relations between the FIA and FOM have reached a detente over the past 24 months, with there now being a basis of mutual trust that has allowed progress on topics that actually matter, rather than fears of one side stepping on the other’s toes derailing the agenda. One such instance happened in 2023 when Ben Sulayem made public comments on F1\u2019s valuation, which infringed on FOM’s commercial domain.<\/p>\n When quizzed by Autosport about F1 management’s relationship with the FIA, Domenicali said the sides are now better at communicating and understanding what the other needs and how each side operates. “I think what I can say is that the relationship with the president of the FIA and with the FIA is very strong,” Domenicali insisted. “We know that we are complementary to the sport. We will never do the role of the FIA as the FIA will never do the role of a commercial rightsholder.<\/p>\n “Without the volunteers that are coming to the track, a multi-billion sport would be not possible. Therefore, we need to make sure that there’s a huge respect for that and we need to give all that is needed” Stefano Domenicali<\/p>\n “It’s a matter of trust. It’s a matter of having a clear direction that we want to take this sport and I think we prove with the facts that at the end of the day. There has been such a big growth of our sport in such a short time that our biggest point of attention is to make sure that the legs of the table are strong enough to sustain our growth. That means the organisation of the entire ecosystem – the promoters, the broadcasters, the partners, the teams, the FIA, all of us.<\/p>\n “It’s a matter of understanding better each other. There was a sort of a learning curve that has been taken and today we are in a situation where the line is very clear. The trust is definitely there. Therefore, it’s good for the sport. I do believe so, at least.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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