After standing unopposed, Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been re-elected for another term as FIA president – ahead of the motorsport governing body’s prize-giving night in Uzbekistan on Friday.
The 64-year-old Emirati will thus remain as the FIA’s leader for another four years, having succeeded Jean Todt at the end of 2021. Although three other candidates had announced that they would stand against Ben Sulayem for 2025: Tim Mayer, Laura Villars, and Virginie Philippot, none were able to nominate the seven vice-presidents – two from Europe, and one from each of the remaining global regions defined by the FIA – required to formally stand.
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There was only one eligible representative in South America: Fabiana Ecclestone, wife of former F1 supremo Bernie, who had already declared her support for Ben Sulayem. As such, any further applications were considered moot; there were no other FIA World Motor Sport Council members from the continent from whom the other candidates could garner support.
In the previous election, Ben Sulayem had beaten Graham Stoker to the presidency; Stoker had support from the Argentine Automobile Club’s Carlos Garcia Remohi, who had been on Todt’s ticket in 2017.
The inability for any other candidates to run has been subject to legal action by Villars, who took to the French courts hoping to suspend the election entirely. Although it permitted the election to continue, a first hearing will take place in February next year to fully examine the election process in full. Until then, Ben Sulayem remains president of the FIA.
2021-22: Elected president, investigation into 2021 F1 finale
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
In the December 2021 election, Ben Sulayem was elected over Stoker with 61.62% of the vote from the FIA’s members. One of his more immediate tasks was to commission an investigation into the contentious Formula 1 season finale in 2021, following Max Verstappen’s last-gasp title victory over Lewis Hamilton. The two entered the race equal on points, but Hamilton had led the majority of the grand prix and was set to claim an eighth world title – at least, before Nicholas Latifi’s late crash at Turn 14 produced the safety car.
Hamilton did not pit from the lead as Mercedes feared he could lose track position, while Verstappen stopped for softs. The race had looked set to end under the safety car, but race director Michael Masi permitted the five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves – setting the race up for a final-lap showdown. Verstappen, on fresher tyres, dispatched Hamilton at Turn 5 to claim the title.
Mercedes appealed the results of the race. The investigation hinged on Masi’s interpretation of the rule stating that “any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car”, and that the Australian did not deem “any” to be “all” (the regulations were updated in the wake of the investigation, and it does indeed now read “all”…)
It also stated that Masi had “called the safety car back into the pitlane without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (Article 48.12)”. As such, Masi was removed as race director, and replaced by both Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas – Freitas later stepped down, and Wittich was replaced as sole race director by Rui Marques. The FIA stated that the results could not be changed, however, and Mercedes dropped its appeal.
The FIA also introduced its Remote Operations Centre, to offer support to the stewards in a similar fashion to football’s virtual assistant referee (VAR).
Ben Sulayem remarked later in 2022 that, owing to the perceived protection of Masi and the lack of depth into the investigation, “at that time, maybe the [Abu Dhabi] report was not enough”.
He also had to steer the FIA through a looming patent infringement case, as the inventor of the halo head protection system Jens H. S. Nygaard had lodged a legal challenge against the governing body. The two parties settled out of court.
2023 – Flare-up with FOM over $20bn valuation; old comments resurface
Gianni Infantino, FIFA President and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
In January 2023, a report in Bloomberg had stated that Liberty Media had declined a $20bn bid from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for F1. Liberty had purchased the commercial rights to the championship in 2017, and had seen a colossal growth in its value thanks to its greater presence in mainstream media.
Ben Sulayem took to social media to make clear his opposition to what he termed as “inflated price tags”.
“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,” he wrote.
“It is our duty to consider what the future impact will be for promoters in terms of increased hosting fees and other commercial costs, and any adverse impact that it could have on fans.”
F1’s legal department circulated a letter sent to Ben Sulayem, accusing him of “interfering” with the commercial aspects of the championship. Formula One Management (FOM), the concern owned by Liberty Media, was granted a 100-year lease of F1’s commercial rights by former FIA president Max Mosley in 2000 – with the understanding that the governing body would not influence or be in anyway involved in the commercial aspect of F1.
The letter stated that: “The FIA has given unequivocal undertakings that it will not do anything to prejudice the ownership, management and/or exploitation of those rights. We consider that those comments, made from the FIA President’s official social media account, interfere with those rights in an unacceptable manner.”
Comments that Ben Sulayem had made in 2001 on his personal website, stating that he did not like “women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth”. He contended that these were no longer representative of his current views; Ben Sulayem has two women – Ecclestone, and CEO of Rally Sweden Anna Nordkvist – on his 2025 presidential list.
2024: Whistleblower accuses Ben Sulayem of interfering with race result; legal action and resignations
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, provisionally 3rd position, celebrates with his team in Parc Ferme
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
In 2023’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso finished third on the road – but was demoted to fourth as the stewards noted that a five-second penalty – taken for being too far out of his grid box – was incorrectly served in the pitlane, as a mechanic had apparently touched the car with the rear jack during the timer.
Aston Martin was successful with a right of review and got the penalty overturned, as sporting director Andy Stevenson was able to demonstrate past instances where similar situations had gone unpunished.
It was alleged by a whistleblower that Ben Sulayem had contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, FIA vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa regions, to ensure the penalty was overturned.
Ben Sulayem faced further allegations, as the BBC reported that another whistleblower had been told to not to homologate the Las Vegas circuit in 2023. After delays in homologating the circuit following local construction works, it was alleged that Ben Sulayem wanted those inspecting the circuit to find issues with the track, although none were ultimately found.
He contended those accusations, stating that “the president of the FIA is the one who signs the homologation for the new track, or for all the tracks. I supported it. I could have said no, [because it wasn’t ready in time for inspection]. But as soon as my team said it was safe – because I’m a driver, I care about the wellbeing of the drivers and the people around them, our staff and the marshals – I [approved] it.”
Following an investigation by the FIA compliance officer and its six-person ethics committee, Ben Sulayem was cleared of both allegations. A letter co-signed by 34 member clubs from the Americas offered its support of Ben Sulayem, which recommended “that the FIA initiate legal action against those who, without cause, slander the FIA and its leadership”.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Elsewhere, Ben Sulayem ratified the introduction of a new officials department, ensuring that more stewards could be recruited and trained to ensure coverage of FIA-governed events, especially given the inflation of race calendars – particularly as F1 moved towards a gruelling 24 races per year. The FIA also introduced a series of new F1 track limits solutions, with clearer lines and small off-track gravel patches, to limit the need to delete laps and cause significant changes in race classifications.
Under his aegis, the FIA also announced plans for more stringent driver fines by expanding what could be termed as unsporting conduct; in official FIA sessions, drivers in F1 could be fined up to €40,000 for swearing. This followed Verstappen’s use of language in the Thursday press conference in Singapore, where he was summoned to the stewards and told he was “obliged to accomplish some work of public interest” in Rwanda around last year’s prize-giving event in Kigali. Verstappen responded by choosing to give minimal answers across the rest of the weekend in the FIA press conferences, instead speaking to media outside.
This controversy also rolled into 2025, as Adrien Fourmaux was given a €30,000 fine (€20,000 of it suspended) for swearing in an end-of-stage interview at February’s Rally Sweden. The World Rally Championship drivers supported Fourmaux and formed the World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA) to protest the decision. As such, the drivers gave minimal answers, or only spoke in their first language, in the interviews. Eventually, the FIA and WoRDA came to an agreement that fines would only be extended to official press conference sessions, releasing sanctions on any bad language in heat-of-the-moment scenarios.
In May of 2024, CEO Natalie Robyn had left her role with the FIA after just 18 months, following sporting director Steve Nielsen (now Alpine’s team manager), single-seater technical director Tim Goss (now at Racing Bulls) and women’s commission leader Deborah Mayer out of the door.
Furthermore, F1 Academy CEO Susie Wolff also took legal action against the FIA citing defamation, as the FIA had chosen to launch an inquiry into a conflict of interest claim made against her by a media outlet – which stated that she had shared classified information with husband and Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff.
The FIA’s compliance department dropped the investigation, having been satisfied that no wrongdoing had taken place. The media outlet had suggested that the FIA had been tipped off by another F1 team principal – but coordinated support for Wolff from the nine other teams on the grid followed, all refuting that any of them had been involved.
2025: Reid quits as deputy president, Ben Sulayem wins election
Robert Reid, FIA
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
In April, Robert Reid announced that he would step down as the FIA’s deputy president for sport, citing a “breakdown of governance standards” and “critical decisions being made without due process”.
Reid, plus Motorsport UK chief David Richards, was not allowed to attend a World Motor Sport Council over a refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This followed a series of amended statutes, signed in late 2024, that effectively limited accountability within the governing body. Both Ben Sulayem and FIA senate president Carmelo Sanz De Barros were granted oversight and authority over all ethics complaints.
One of Reid’s key grievances was the FIA’s alleged circumvention of its own governance structure to take the promotion of the World Rallycross Championship into its own jurisdiction. In his stead, Ben Sulayem proposed that M-Sport chief Malcolm Wilson should become his new deputy – which was later ratified by another WMSC meeting.
At this time, potential FIA candidates began to emerge; WRC champion Carlos Sainz Sr considered running against Ben Sulayem, but ultimately chose not to formally submit his candidacy. Ben Sulayem responded to Sainz’s interest with a letter from 36 automobile clubs from the Americas all demonstrating their support for the incumbent.
Former steward Tim Mayer later announced his candidacy at the British Grand Prix, with Swiss racer Villars and Belgian journalist Philippot also throwing their hats into the ring. However, the inability to complete their tickets with a representative from South America led to Ben Sulayem running unopposed – and his second term was announced in Tashkent on Friday.
What’s next?
Carlos Sainz Sr. with Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Ben Sulayem’s manifesto states that he wishes to continue his 2021 pledge to double motorsport involvement globally, which has seen a growth in low-cost categories across many of the smaller member clubs. The FIA introduced its ‘Global Karting Plan’ in late 2024 to expand the introduction of FIA-affiliated karting series across more national sporting authorities.
It also says that has eliminated the $20 million debt that Ben Sulayem encountered on assuming the presidency in late 2021, and aims to expand the academic partnerships associated with the FIA University.
Beyond those aims, the tangible direction of Ben Sulayem’s governance across the FIA’s key championships is unknown. Having spoken about his keenness to reinstate naturally aspirated engines back into F1, removing much of the hybrid systems aside from an effective return to a KERS package, Ben Sulayem may yet reinstate his support for a V8-led formula for 2030 and beyond.
F1’s current criticisms over driver stewarding also need to be addressed, as the racing guidelines employed to mete out penalties have been applied too stringently. Ben Sulayem does not have direct involvement over this, and such many of the details will fall to the FIA’s race control team, but his leadership team should ultimately act as a conduit for the processes to improve.
To reinstate trust in his leadership, Ben Sulayem will want to open his second term in a less auspicious fashion – although much of it will depend upon the outcome of Villars’ appeal to the French courts in February.
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