FIA president under investigation for interference in F1 race

The president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is currently under investigation for alleged interference in a Formula 1 race result. An anonymous whistleblower has informed the FIA that Ben Sulayem purportedly played a role in overturning a penalty imposed on Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

According to a report submitted by an FIA compliance officer to the ethics committee, as obtained by BBC Sport, the allegation suggests that Ben Sulayem contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa—the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, who was present in Saudi Arabia for the race in an official capacity. It is claimed that Ben Sulayem expressed his belief that Alonso’s penalty should be rescinded.

Alonso had initially received a 10-second penalty for maintenance work on his car while already serving a prior five-second penalty. The whistleblower contends that Ben Sulayem influenced the stewards to reverse their decision to penalize Alonso.

The report by compliance officer Paolo Basarri notes that the whistleblower stated Ben Sulayem “pretended the stewards to overturn their decision to issue” the penalty to Alonso. In Italian, the term “pretendere” translates to requiring or expecting.

🚨 | The President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for alleged attempt to interfere over a race result.

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A whistleblower has told the FIA that Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi… pic.twitter.com/N8UWM4zvxG

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As of now, neither Mohammed Ben Sulayem nor the FIA has provided a response to requests for comment. The ethics committee is anticipated to release its report within four to six weeks. The contested penalty, once withdrawn, elevated Alonso back to a podium position after initially dropping him from third to fourth place behind Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, as well as Mercedes’ George Russell.