Just over 1,000 days ago, FIA president Jean Todt stepped down from his position at the end of his third term – the last allowed under the federation’s statutes – with an election held to determine his successor.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, a 14-times Middle East Rally champion, successfully won the election over Todt’s former deputy Graham Stoker with almost two-thirds of votes from the body’s international membership.Over the almost three years of his presidency, Ben Sulayem has become a name and face that Formula 1 fans especially have become very familiar with. A far more visible presence at grands prix than his predecessor, Ben Sulayem has been a regular attendee in parc ferme after qualifying sessions and races as well as on the post-race podium, presenting FIA winner’s medals to the driver first across the finish line.
Off the track, Ben Sulayem has been an active participant in the political world of Formula 1. He spearheaded the opening of applications to find potential new teams to join the world championship – much to the bemusement of Formula One Management and the ten existing teams, who had zero desire among them to open up the sport to newcomers.
Most recently, current world champion Max Verstappen effectively boycotted the FIA’s official press conferences during the Singapore Grand Prix in response to a punishment to complete ‘some work of public interest’ that he received for swearing in an earlier press conference. The unusual punishment came just days after Ben Sulayem had criticised F1 drivers in an interview for regularly swearing on team radio.
Ben Sulayem has previously complained about his press coverage, saying earlier this year “the media try to massacre me and assassinate me.” He made similar comments again this week saying: “If you look at the British media and what they did to me… for God’s sake, they convicted me,” to Autosport.
“They didn’t accuse me [of anything], but they keep on [going]. And do I care? No. Why? Because what are they after? They are after selling and getting more coverage for them[selves].”
Ben Sulayem insists that he retains the majority support of the FIA’s member clubs – some of whom published statements in support of him following the allegations of interference made against him earlier this year. Under the FIA’s statutes, Ben Sulayem and his administration will face re-election at the end of 2025, so long as an opponent runs against him, meaning Ben Sulayem’s leadership could be tested in just over one year’s time.
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You say
During Todt’s presidency of the governing body, RaceFans routinely polled you, the readers, about how you gauged the performance of the former Ferrari team principal in his new role. After 1,000 days of Ben Sulayem’s presidency, now seems an appropriate time to ask how you feel about Ben Sulayem’s performance as FIA president thus far.
As an organisation, the FIA oversees far more than just Formula 1 and single-seater motorsport. Its mobility pillar is no less important to the organisation, but is mostly entirely separate from Formula 1. Previously, with Jean Todt, RaceFans only asked for your assessment of his performance in regards to Formula 1. Therefore, please base your judgement of Ben Sulayem’s performance on how his organisation has handled F1 matters during his time at the helm.
As an F1 fan, do you approve or disapprove of Mohammed Ben Sulayem's performance as FIA President?
- No opinion (10%)
- Disapprove (81%)
- Approve (10%)
Total Voters: 154
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BLS (@brightlampshade)
6th October 2024, 12:14
Whilst he has ultimately failed the “sport”, I’m sure he’s been quite successful for the stakeholders.
rprp
6th October 2024, 14:30
I think you’re confusing the FIA with Liberty
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
6th October 2024, 20:24
hes probably a red herring. Or a scapegoat. at least so far as the stakeholders are concerned.
good business sense implies that you walk softly and bat a 1000. He’s making it personal and taking too much of the lime light. Typically this kind of personality only serves to distract people from other things, the stuff stakeholders want nobody paying attention to. MBS would do right to respect himself enough to take a step back and become as invisible as possible. The really successful types, when they are being successful, don’t take any of the lime light. But like all derivatives, that light usually finds a way, and is typically 90 degrees behind actual success.
— stakeholder capitalism.
ianhaycox (@ianhaycox)
6th October 2024, 12:38
In his three years’ of leadership, the number of key personnel resigning doesn’t look great either,
Luke Skipper – Director of Communications
Tim Goss – Single-seater’s Technical Director
Deborah Mayer – Chair, Women in Motorsport Commission
Jacob Bangsgaard – Secretary General for Mobility
Steve Nielsen – FIA’s Sporting Director
Pierre Ketterer – FIA’s Head of Governance and Regulation
Edward Floyd – Head of commercial legal affairs
Natalie Robyn – The FIA’s first female Director General
For the head of an organisation to lose so much skill and talent in such a short time is either very careless or there is a much deeper seated reason for the departures.
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 12:56
Ketterer and Floyd where Todt’s main legal people in the Concorde negotiations with FOM. It’s pretty clear that Ben Suleyem wants a different relationship with FOM after the CA expires. Given that this CA has given FOM such influence over both cars and the competition (e.g. refusing Andretti), it’s not a bad thing to have new people lead this.
It was said at the time (early this year) that the FIA has done a pretty extensive internal reorganisation through 2023. It’s thus quite telling they left after that process was completed, rather than before or during in some kind of protest. It doesn’t seem to be a cause for concern that a transition to a new organization takes place while both the old and the new main players are actively involved. Quite the opposite.
anon
6th October 2024, 14:26
MichaelN, you really are going to be aggressively pushing the pro-Sulayem rhetoric here aren’t you, even when previous claims that you have made in the past to present him in a more positive light have been proven incorrect?
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 15:45
I haven’t seen anything of the sort, though I’ll admit I often check newer posts when revisiting articles rather than review my own. I’m not sure what’s incorrect about it.
From Motorsport on 6 February: “Under former president Jean Todt [Ketterer] led the FIA’s side negotiations for the current Concorde Agreement that runs until 2026.” and “Floydd was the primary civil and commercial legal adviser to the FIA and was the lead legal negotiator and adviser for championship promoter agreements, and as such also involved in Concorde discussions.”
Ben Sulayem’s comment at the time: “I am confident that with the team Pierre has put in place, the FIA’s governance and regulatory affairs are in good hands.” And from Ketterer himself: “I have a very important relationship with the President, I know it’s hard to gain his trust, and we’ve had a great time for the last two years.”
There is nothing in this story whatsoever to suggest there is some widespread disagreement in the FIA ranks with the president. That’s a frame that’s been put on a lot of coverage by specific people, and as noted before, it’s no surprise that Ben Sulayem’s warning about the sale of Formula One Group immediately precedes much of these negative articles.
pez2k (@pez2k)
6th October 2024, 12:45
I think the Andretti situation alone is enough to push me to say he’s done poorly overall. The FIA looked powerless and ineffective when FOM simply overruled them on accepting the new team, and it showed an inability on his part to successfully negotiate with FOM.
Riccard
7th October 2024, 7:52
It’s a particular shame because I think that’s the main decision that was “his” where he had the backing of fans… and he couldn’t make it happen
Mayrton
7th October 2024, 12:26
Whilst I agree he inherited this situation from Todt who gave away the soul of FIA to Liberty/FOM.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
9th October 2024, 20:16
This another one of those things that FIA gets the blame for when it’s really Liberty that committed the sin.
Still, on the balance, I think Ben has done a decent job. I don’t like everything he’s done, but I compare him to his predecessors. Max Mosley being controversial and in my opinion deeply corrupt, to Todt, who I always felt was somewhat ineffectual and slow to implement changes, to Ben who has tried a lot of things, some good, some not good, but is clearly engaged and trying to improve the sport. I’d much rather see that than people playing politics and getting little done.
Ideals (@ideals)
6th October 2024, 12:49
I struggle to find many positives in his run so far. He seems overly controlling, he seems to want to consistently place some kind of morality clause on the sport, based mostly on antiquated beliefs that most of the world does not agree with. I can’t help his crusade against jewelry was inspired by his personal beliefs rather than “safety”. And his latest crusade on bad language seems in the same vein less about “the children” and more about the “Ben Sulayem’s” in the world, after all he comes from a place where it’s literally against the law.
Meanwhile, he seems to have no control over the F1 world. He’s constantly at war with both the FOM and the team bosses alike. Diplomacy fails him entirely, and his choice way of responding is by either putting his foot down and pouting about how nobody respects him, or just making examples of people over the most trivial matters because he keeps losing out in the big battles.
His failure to get an 11th team in by trying to force the issue rather than finding a solution that would get the FOM on board is the best example of his failure. I’m sure there could’ve been a way to get an 11th team accepted by the FOM and I’m convinced if Todt or Mosley had tried, they would’ve gotten it done. Instead we’re in a situation where Andretti isn’t in the sport, and where the FIA looks like a completely trivial organization that the FOM sort of tolerates being around the sport.
Finally, I’ve also noticed just how much he wants to be spotlight, more than I’ve ever noticed with Todt. For instance, I’m pretty convinced that the new-ish “medal” that Ben Sulayem normally hands out on the podium is less about “given the driver something to take home because the teams keep the trophies” and more about “I need a reason to be on the podium on camera” for Ben Sulayem. I don’t see Domenicali hanging around parc ferme after qualifying just to make sure he can shake hands with the pole sitter every race.
All this to say, the evidence points very much to this being more of an ego trip for Ben Sulayem than a job. He wants to be important and whenever he feels slighted in that objective, he’s immediately in the meedia asking where his respect is.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
6th October 2024, 14:45
@ideals That would be my take too. It’s become more about Sulayem than the sport or the FIA and that no matter how we qualify it is a bad thing.
Nick T.
6th October 2024, 17:27
100%. And that alone basically means the answer is no.
David
7th October 2024, 7:44
This is a good summary. I haven’t followed his leadership in detail but every time his name crops up it seems to be about some trivial issue that upsets his personal beliefs, or over-reaching into areas where he has no influence.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
7th October 2024, 8:34
Agree with everything you say.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
9th October 2024, 20:22
I understand you take, but I feel much of the gripes you bring up are the result of the poor vision and leadership of FOM, with which Ben has had to deal with. Could he have done a better job to persuade them? Probably. But I place blame squarely on the people who ultimately held the keys on this matter and that’s not Ben. I appreciate how strongly he advocated for an 11th team.
As far as the morality clause of whatever, all I’ve seen is him willing to enforce the rules which others ignored. You can agree or disagree with the rules, but those existed already before he arrived. The whole thing with Lewis’ jewelry and Max’s potty mouth… those were asinine issues that shouldn’t have made the news, except those two drivers have enormous egos and refused to comply. Instead created a media storm around really silly issues. For the record, I think that with jewelry, if it’s a safety issue then it’s non negotiable. If it’s not then forget it. With swearing, let it be the way it’s always been. Most drivers don’t swear, this is mostly a Max problem and maybe one more. I also don’t care for the sport featuring more swearing.
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 12:49
I couldn’t begin to pretend to know everything the FIA does, but in terms of F1 the signs are overall quite positive.
While I’m no outright fan of Wittich, he’s a much better race director than either Whiting or Masi were. This has led to more predictable, consistent and generally better officiating at the race weekends. Save for the Las Vegas FP fiasco, the sport hasn’t had major issues with its events.
The process to let in new teams has been great. F1 should, as per the rules, have a grid of 13 teams. It’s failing its fans who pay good money for either TV or trackside viewing by only showing up with 10.
Ben Suleyem was right to warn about the detrimental effects of overvaluing F1 in a potential sale of the Formula One Group. It’s of course no coincidence that this painted a bull’s eye on his back. But he was right: saddling the sport with a massive debt is not going to be good for anyone. It would likely lead to a new push to recoup the investments, leading to higher prices and more ‘sportswashing’ venues on the calendar to the detriment of traditional hosts.
Two things that have been disappointing: he hasn’t been as forceful as hoped (at least in public) over the renegotiation of the Concorde Agreement. This won’t happen in this term, of course, but preliminary work will need to be done. It’s high time the FIA takes back some of the power that Todt gave away. And second; the 2022 TD39 was a massive problem. Was it mere chance that Shaila-Ann Rao of Mercedes fame soon after left her role as interim secretary general for motorsport? Who knows, but it was rightly controversial at the time. Either way, it has massively undermined the 2022 spec cars, and it was a big failure by the FIA – not necessarily Ben Sulayem – to let this happen.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th October 2024, 12:55
No, he’s a clown that thinks of himself as more important than the drivers. It’s also telling his whole idea of bringing Andretti to F1 crashed into a wall… He both doesn’t have enough influence and he’s not a positive figure either.
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 12:57
It was Todt’s Concorde Agreement that gave FOM a big say in the Andretti matter.
The F1 Sporting Regulations themselves are quite clear: only the FIA should has a say in this matter.
notagrumpyfan
6th October 2024, 18:26
It was Ben’s decision to roll over and accept the decision by FOM and the other teams.
He could easily have ignored (or used any ambiguity in the Concorde Agreement) and let Andretti join the F1 competition.
It would be fun to see if FOM/teams would dare to take FIA to court.
Undoubtedly the financial perks for Ben were bigger than doing the right thing.
But rather than allowing a new team in he is focussing on the vocabulary of the drivers.
anon
7th October 2024, 9:40
notagrumpyfan, the FIA would be very unlikely to ever want the case to go to court though, because that could then result in details of the bidding process becoming public knowledge. We know the FIA is not keen on the public finding out how the bidding process was run because of their ongoing arbitration case with Hitech – the FIA went for arbitration precisely because the hearings are being held in private and therefore the full details of the case won’t be on public record.
Hitech accused the FIA of not running a fair bidding process, and whilst the findings of the arbitration case are confidential, the indication from the first stage of the process, where the arbitrators appear to be ordering the FIA to pay at least some of Hitech’s legal costs, is that the arbitrators are coming down on Hitech’s side.
The fact that they are subject to legal action from Hitech, and what appears to have been a subsequent loss in the arbitration hearing about whether the bidding process was run properly and fairly, is probably why the FIA hasn’t tried to force the Andretti bid through.
PeteB (@peteb)
6th October 2024, 13:19
He tried to go to war with Liberty before discovering he’s completely powerless and is now whinging about unimportant things like swearing in order to look busy.
Hard to say he’s been a success really.
Leo B
6th October 2024, 13:46
He makes an effort to get people on board rather than dictate. He seems willing to go the extra mile. Or do we prefer the aloof underhand dictatorial style of Moseley?
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 15:57
Thankfully the FIA has become a much more open organisation since those times. One only has to read Ben Sulayem’s platform, or indeed that of any other recent FIA presidential candidate, to see this. The member organisations are much more important now and have a more active role in shaping the administration.
Which, as an aside, is another point that’s often overlooked: single seater racing and motorsport in general all have dedicated people in charge of handling the affairs. It’s not the job of the president to handle the day to day. Though I suspect most F1 fans who think the FIA is doing a terrible job have no idea who Robert Reid even is.
Nick T.
6th October 2024, 17:29
Seems like the exact opposite. He seems to go the extra mile to alienate people and make a lot of what’s happening seem to be about himself rather than the FIA. If the FIA is doing its job well, we shouldn’t see constant headlines about its president.
Darren
6th October 2024, 13:47
Must Be Seen has been a joke from the very beginning.
S
6th October 2024, 14:02
I’m not sure exactly what people expect the FIA president to be like if MBS isn’t satisfactory.
Todt happily handed F1 over to Liberty Media, thus allowing them to mould F1 into a pure entertainment business. Ben Sulayem is trying to get it back and refocus it more on wholesome sporting matters for a family audience as it used to be, yet many people are falling for FOM’s and the teams’ hype that the FIA leader is out to ruin everything.
People are even blaming him for not getting Andretti on the grid, just to prove how duplicitous they can be. He was the one who invited new entries, for goodness sake.
Worth reiterating here that the FIA did allow Andretti in to F1, by the way. It was then Liberty and the existing teams who collectively decided that no other team could or should make any money from it or appear in any official media, thus ensuring that there could be no business case for an 11th team. And that’s without even considering their anti-dilution fee and worthless ‘justifications’ for rejecting the 11th team such as proving competitiveness and having a new manufacturer engine supply (things which most existing teams don’t have either).
Ben Sulayem is a strong leader – that’s exactly what the FIA needs to stand up to Liberty and save F1. Without this, F1 will continue down this spiral into pure entertainment for money, while engineering and sport fall further and further into insignificance.
MichaelN
6th October 2024, 15:51
It’s a classic, along with the confusion – either deliberate or not – with another MBS.
There might be an argument to be made that the FIA could have been more forceful in this matter. But it wouldn’t be a very strong one, because according to all the coverage the legal case is quite clear, and that’s Todt’s fault. But time is on the FIA’s side, with the Concorde Agreement expiring next year. It’s high time to put FOM back in its proper place, as a manager of the commercial side of the sport. Not the rules. Not the participants. Not designing cars. That’s a recipe for a repeat of the late 1990s legal case against the FIA/FOM collusion.
Also, Andretti bungled the process by failing to get an engine deal for 2025. That’s 100% on them. Not the FIA. Sure, they should have been able to apply for an engine – which Renault would have to supply as it only supplies one team – but that is such an antagonistic way to go about it, it’s no wonder they found few friends in the series (never mind the financial interest).
S
7th October 2024, 9:53
Let’s not pretend that Andretti would have been welcomed into F1 with a Cadillac engine ready to go in 2025. The outcome was already decided the moment the FIA announced they were seeking an 11th entry proposal.
Andretti’s ultimate rejection has not only put the GM Cadillac interest at risk, it has also been a significant factor in convincing Renault to pull the pin on their own engine program – given that Andretti would have been using those engines (whether by agreement or regulation).
Two birds, one stone… Well done FOM.
I certainly won’t be holding my breath in regard to the next Concord Agreement. While F1’s popularity remains high and profitability is secure, the Concorde Agreement will naturally reflect and exploit that.
F1’s rules are still entirely the FIA’s domain – but they’ve simply been far too generous in allowing the commercial interests (FOM) to influence the technical and regulatory direction. And in this day and age, that pressure won’t be going away. Money is everything, and the FIA are also getting their share of it.
Tristan
6th October 2024, 23:51
I agree to an extent. I certainly think the poll result is way too harsh. I do pull back just towards the end as you say he’s a strong leader and the potential saviour of F1. He could still be a lot better… I think as others have said pulling back from the media would be a start. He said he would after the valuation debacle, but never did.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
7th October 2024, 11:35
The sport was already carved up along these lines during the Bernie/Mosley era – the only change was the commercial rights holder went from a money hose for investors under CVC to a company looking to build the sport, albeit in a very Americo-centric way (warts and all).
S
7th October 2024, 13:31
Liberty isn’t building the sport – they are building the business.
Bernie was very sure to keep F1 as more of a technical and sporting competition at its core, even to the point of knowingly sacrificing a lot of potential growth in income.
He is/was always a motorsports man, not just a salesman. His motivations/justifications were very much about what F1 should be (in his opinion) – not strictly how much he could sell it for.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th October 2024, 15:41
I was thinking about ‘disapprove’ but I ultimately went for ‘no opinion’ because I feel he’s been okay overall, with only this ridiculous swearing matter questionable to any extent.
FlyingLap (@flyinglapp)
6th October 2024, 18:31
In a word, no.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
6th October 2024, 20:40
if deaths and injuries are lower than they have been in the last 10 or 15 years, probably hes been doing a good job. Safety is really the only thing the FIA should be concerned with. Not mysterious rule changes or mysterious payments. Probably should try to stay as far away from innovation and performance regulations as is possible. at least without clear warrant/reason that such performance is actually an unreasonable hazard/danger.
Dex
6th October 2024, 22:22
How would I know if he’s doing a good job? I’m not privy to what’s going on inside the organization, and who exactly does what. All I know is what I read from journalists, who probably know as much as I do. What I’m trying to say is – we don’t have to have an opinion about everything. We may like him or not, but other than that, we can just gossip and talk about things we know nothing about.
Let’s talk about who’s the best janitor in their HQ next…
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
6th October 2024, 23:28
Yeah, maybe it’s the janitor that makes the final decisions at the FIA.
Tristan
7th October 2024, 4:10
That would explain a lot hahah
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
6th October 2024, 23:27
Each time I’ve voiced my opinion on this dude on this website my comments have been deleted. He’s proved that he is an ignorant, petty person. I wouldn’t expect him to change, so the only solution is to replace him.
Phil
6th October 2024, 23:52
His election was controversial with suggestions of corruption and favors. Maybe that’s the real world in action but didn’t start out on a good footing.
Abu Dhabi 2021 was a complete FIA debacle. He oversaw this so it’s on him.
Andretti admission process has been a complete disaster. Also oversaw this so it’s on him. Remind me why were the FIA even involved?
One world champion is out there calling him a racist, another world champion is calling him petty and basically ignoring him. Guys is (near) universally loathed. And yet struts around paddock like a king 24/7.
Apples
7th October 2024, 0:20
I used to think you had to be really clever and talented to obtain a high up position in Government or a governing body.
Unfortunately, I think just being an arrogant narcissist is all it takes.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
7th October 2024, 11:37
A rich arrogant narcissist.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th October 2024, 0:37
No opinion (9%)
Disapprove (83%)
Approve (7%)
Total Voters: 95
Ahah, that’s a slam dunk if I’ve ever seen one, so on the basis of this he should be replaced immediately!
Coventry Climax
7th October 2024, 10:25
Fortunately, we do not have such polls, or “X, the former social media platform known under a synonym for bird talk”, or facebook, the platform originally intended to (de-)grade girls in college, or tiktok or whatever, deciding who should be ruling the world, or F1. Yet, I am afraid.
I do not like MBS one bit, but I am very aware it is based on a very incomplete picture. And the complete picture is not the outcome of this poll.
Shift (@initialshift)
7th October 2024, 8:54
Well I think it’s obvious he should go asap. Whenever the FIA is the centre of attention, it’s usually a bad thing. Sure, the Abu Dhabi controversy was a bad moment to become the new leader, but things haven’t really become uncontroversial since.
Sully obviously loves being the centre of attention, being on the podium and around the paddock. But who honestly likes seeing him there? Not to mention his regular silly attention seeking comments.
I’ll happily admit being bothered by all the oil-rich middle eastern presence in F1 these days, which is solely for the purpose of sports washing, and he’s probably the worst example of it. The sooner we get rid of all of that, the better.
reggie747
7th October 2024, 9:37
He just wantsa be on TV, at every available opportunity. Nobody knew who he was outside the Middle East prior to his now new job.
14x Rally champion ? If he was any good he would have stepped outside the Arab world and gone global in his plight. Can’t stand the guy, he blows my head.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
7th October 2024, 11:19
He really told on himself with the recent comments about the FIA not receiving money and credit since he took over – he’s used to having everything handed to him on a plate and once the reality of the real world pushes back at him, he throws his toys from the pram.
Illusive (@illusive)
8th October 2024, 16:11
He is on a power trip and wants to take control. Its politics and he is treating FIA like its a Saudi company where things like power struggle might be the norm. If stays for long he will definitely ensure there is power gradient and even his predecessors might get influenced by this.