Stefano Domenicali, Mohammed Ben Sulayem chat.Mohammed Ben Sulayem: What did I do wrong?
The issues ranged from clashing over Andretti’s inclusion as F1’s 12th team, to freezing out F1 when the FIA unilaterally released the calendar and to allegations of revealing confidential information.
Such was the tension between F1 and the FIA that the BBC reported last December that a “number of sources” felt Ben Sulayem’s actions were detrimental to the sport. The report added that Liberty Media were considering breaking away from the governing body should the president continue.
Faced with the threat of a breakaway series as recently as last year, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem insists talk of that is “nonsense” as it won’t happen.
Last season the FIA, led by Ben Sulayem, clashed with the Formula 1 teams, Formula One Management and the sport’s promoters, Liberty Media.The situation wasn’t helped by Ben Sulayem reportedly wanting a bigger slice of F1’s financial pie to go towards the FIA in the next Concorde Agreement.
However, months on it seems there’s a truce between F1 and the FIA, Ben Sulayem telling Motorsport.com that “FOM now understands the role of the FIA.”
“I don’t know what the problem was before,” he added. “I’m asking you: could you tell me what the problem was during the last two and a half years? What did I do wrong?
“Honestly, if I ask for a better deal for the FIA, who do I go to? Do I have to pay for it out of my own pocket? I don’t get a dime from the FIA. So what exactly is the problem if I ask for better equipment and more resources to make a better sport?”
Who is the man in charge of motorsport’s governing body, the FIA?.
As for talk of a breakaway series, a threat that pops up every few years, the FIA president quashed that. In turn, he won’t threaten Liberty Media about taking back the rights to F1.
“All that nonsense we had before, that talk about a spin-of… Come on, for God’s sake. Can we behave a bit more maturely? That’s not going to happen,” Ben Sulayem insisted.
“The FIA now understands that this is a ship that doesn’t need any more rocking. And while we may have our differences, I’m not going to cross the line by saying I want the commercial rights back. I really don’t.
“But there are things that people need to understand. What do we need? We need a situation where we’re two equals.
“Formula 1 still belongs to the FIA. We rent the rights, we lease them to someone else. A
And I repeat what I said before: if you were to ask me now who I would choose as a promoter – if I were the one who could decide – I would choose Liberty Media. Because they know how to market this sport.
But the FIA needs to become stronger. And we are doing that by repositioning and reforming the FIA. But for that we also need the commercial side to understand and respect our position, because we are responsible for the rules and their compliance.”
Of late those rules included a clampdown on swearing, which led to the FIA punishing Max Verstappen with a day of community service for dropping the F-bomb in a press conference. That led to widespread criticism with Guenther Steiner believing Ben Sulayem could’ve handled it better.
