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Amid numerous controversies, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has stepped back from overseeing Formula 1 in a day-to-day capacity.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been involved in a lot of controversies as of late.
It all started when he decided to comment on an alleged F1 takeover bid from a Saudi Arabian investment fund, which drew the ire of F1 owners Liberty Media.
Then, he was accused of sexism after he was quoted as saying he does “not like women who think they are smarter than men”, on an archived version of his old website.
He was also openly supportive of the proposed F1 entry bid by Andretti Global, even though some teams have been hesitant to easily accept it.
Additionally, Ben Sulayem also had some very public spats with Lewis Hamilton. First, there was a rift between the FIA and Hamilton in 2022, after the governing organization decided to enforce a rule which prevents drivers from wearing jewellery while in the car.
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And now in 2023, after the FIA announced drivers are forbidden from making ‘political or personal statements’ during events sanctioned by the governing organization, one can easily foresee another conflict with the most outspoken driver on the grid – Lewis Hamilton.
Amid more and more talks that Ben Sulayem might be on his way out as the president of the FIA, it has now been announced that he will step back from overseeing Formula 1 in a day-to-day capacity. This part of his role will be taken over by FIA single-seater boss Nikolas Tombazis.
The FIA notes that this decision has been planned for some time, which obviously means they don’t want people to think Ben Sulayem is stepping back because of aforementioned issues.
The FIA also notes that he will still be involved in strategic F1 matters and top-level decisions.
