Former FIA deputy president for sport Robert Reid says many supporters from the upper echelons of motorsport have backed him since he left the governing body last week.
However he said few are prepared to publicly back his criticism of the FIA’s direction under president Mohammed Ben Sulayem “for fear of retaliation.”Reid announced his resignation one week ago. He said today he was stunned by the reaction to it.
“I am genuinely overwhelmed by the positive response, from the very top of motorsport to FIA member clubs, colleagues, fans, and friends across the world,” he wrote in a social media post. “I’m incredibly grateful, and humbled, by the support shown publicly and privately.
“It is interesting, but not wholly surprising, that many of those messages of support came with the caveat of not being willing to say anything publicly for fear of retaliation, which highlights some of the issues we face.
“I would never ask anyone to put themselves in what they feel is an uncomfortable position, be it through a letter of support or a social post showing clear endorsement, as I don’t feel that it would be fair to do so. From other quarters the silence has been deafening.”
He made his announcement last week after the chair of Britain’s FIA-affiliated motorsport club, Motorsport UK, reiterated his criticism of the FIA’s use of new confidentiality agreements. Reid addressed this, saying he accepted the need for confidentiality, but questioned the manner in which the FIA had introduced non-disclosure agreements and said his exclusion from FIA meetings had been unlawful.
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“I fully support the need for confidentiality and have personally been deeply frustrated at the number of leaks that undermine trust and effective governance,” said Reid. “One journalist said to me that perhaps the FIA should be more concerned with why people are leaking than who is doing it and I think that’s worth reflecting on.
“As a result, I was excluded from the World Motor Sport Council meeting, in my view, both unfairly and unlawfully. Ten days later, my FIA email was disabled without notice. Multiple requests for assistance and explanation went unanswered until, following a legal letter from my counsel, I was informed this had been a deliberate decision.
“I want to be clear: I remain bound by confidentiality obligations and will continue to respect those legal responsibilities. I will not disclose information received in confidence or obtained in my official capacity.”
Reid, who won the World Rally Championship as co-driver to Richard Burns in 2001, was part of Ben Sulayem’s election-winning presidential campaign in 2021. But after taking on the role of deputy president for sport, he said he has been dissatisfied by the reaction he received within the governing body when he tried to discuss issues.
“One of the clearest and most troubling examples of this breakdown involved the internalisation of the World Rallycross Championship,” he said. “I repeatedly raised concerns, both about the governance process and potential legal implications, and received no response, despite my elected responsibilities and fiduciary obligations.
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“Eventually, I had no choice but to seek external legal advice and support. Only then did I receive a response, but unfortunately it lacked the clarity and rigour I had hoped for.
“I was told, in broad terms, that the governance process was sound and there was no legal risk. But no evidence or explanation was offered to support those assurances. As someone accountable to the membership and exposed to personal liability, that was simply not acceptable.”
According to Reid his attempts to tackle what he saw as the erosion of “fundamental principles” within the FIA led to him being ostracised. “I did so respectfully, constructively, and always with the aim of safeguarding the integrity of our sport,” he said. “But doing so came at a cost.
“It became clear that raising legitimate concerns was not always welcomed and I experienced first-hand how challenging the status quo can lead to exclusion rather than dialogue. I don’t regret speaking up. But I do believe I was treated unfairly for doing so.
“Leadership matters. Governance matters. And trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. If motorsport is to remain credible and thrive into the future, it must be governed not by control, but by collaboration. Not by silence, but by accountability.”
Ben Sulayem’s first term as president will conclude later this year. Reid is the latest in a series of notable figures within the organisation who have left, prompting speculation Ben Sulayem will face a challenger in the coming election.
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Reid gave no indication he intends to stand. “A lot of people have asked what comes next,” he said. “The truth is, this was never about a ‘next move.’ It was about saying: this isn’t good enough, and I can’t be part of it anymore.”
Following Reid’s resignation last week, an FIA spokesperson said the governing body “is grateful for Robert Reid’s contribution to the FIA, and to motor sport more widely.”
“The FIA has exceptionally robust corporate governance policies which guide our operations and ensure our rules, practices and processes are adhered to,” they continued.
“The FIA World Rallycross Championship is a hugely popular sport. In recent years, world and European Rallycross events have been watched by a growing audience of over 30 million viewers spanning over 100 countries.
“The FIA has directly invested into the championship for the benefit of fans, teams, and FIA member clubs. This investment is in line with the FIA’s commitment to double participation in motorsport globally.”
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Dex
17th April 2025, 12:57
“…but won’t speak publicly for fear of retaliation.”
Not much of a supporter then. A bunch of useless yes-men. Is this FIA, or Soviet Union? Retaliation? What, are they going to send you to a gulag or something? Pathetic…
Doh
17th April 2025, 14:25
They might be made to sign NDA’s then get fired like they did with Masi. Yknow the type of thing you’d do if you’re trying to hide something.
Maybe MBS has dirt on AD21, that he could leak if he doesn’t get his way in the FIA
Greg
18th April 2025, 13:03
Quite common in big corporate settings, after all the NDAs I had to sign better don’t say anything, lawsuits are very expensive.
isthatglock21
17th April 2025, 13:05
MBS sounds a lot like Trump & his hold over the GOP/Republican party. Rule by fear. It works.
Conky
17th April 2025, 16:19
Agree with this. Fascism has seeped into a lot of different things in the past 10 years or so. All of it is very unfortunate and I don’t know how it will ever change. To be fair I don’t think F1 has ever been run any differently?
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
17th April 2025, 13:33
Regardless of the reasons, if you ever find yourself in the position of banning your deputy from meetings and deactivating their email. Maybe have a cup of tea and a chat? You might learn something. Communication is half (most of) the battle.
Doh
17th April 2025, 13:49
Deserved. Not much regard for rules in this ‘sport’ anyway. Majority don’t care
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
17th April 2025, 14:19
I would suspect that most, if not all, of the people claiming to support you but daren’t go public about it are in fact just two faced toadies.
If MBS gets overthrown, and you regain some power, they will point out that they were with you all the time and expect your gratitude and largesse.
I would say thank you to people like this and then basically forget that they exist.
Doh
17th April 2025, 14:33
If he gets overthrown he could leak whatever info he has on ad21. They didn’t have masi sign an NDA before firing him for no reason.
Good point about two faced people, just like the drivers and team bosses that were relatively extremely quiet on the night of the 12th of December 2021. Including Vettel and Alonso who even tried to say it was good for the sport lol.
If it happened to any of them I’m sure it would be possible to see a different side.
Probably best to not respect the word of those kind of people.
Conky
17th April 2025, 16:29
Why the result wasn’t rectified is the issue. It could have been and should have been corrected. But it’s pretty clear how they wanted the narrative to play out. I would love to know the details of that and why Red Bull were allowed to overspend without proper punishment afterwards. Same narrative?
S
18th April 2025, 11:02
Red Bull received the exact penalty that ALL 10 teams (along with the FIA) had agreed would be imposed in that scenario.
Do you think they should break the rules just to impose a bigger penalty? That would be quite conflicting, wouldn’t it?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
19th April 2025, 17:49
The claim the exact penalty for Red Bull’s was agreed beforehand by all the teams is not true.
S Arkazam
17th April 2025, 17:13
What info could that be?
The fact that some people are still upset about it, notwithstanding the full investigation and (top line) results shared with the world.
SteveP
17th April 2025, 18:13
Please point at that shared information.
S Arkazam
18th April 2025, 10:24
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/in-full-the-fia-report-on-the-2021-f1-abu-dhabi-grand-prix/9135546/
But based on your previous post and strong preferences I doubt you will accept this, especially item 13.
SteveP
18th April 2025, 10:39
My main preference in sports is to see the rules followed.
Summary of the report is that Masi did not do that, and following further investigations (with no report) lost the job as a result.
Thereafter, the FIA lifted the edge of the carpet and swept stuff under it.
We already know that, everyone is already aware that the on-site stewards backed Masi, later investigations did not.
S Arkazam
18th April 2025, 14:11
SteveP,
The report is pretty clear. The rules were followed regarding the ‘SC in this lap’. According to the rules (and confirmed during the investigation) the RD instructions overrules all other rules. This is normal to see that certain rules take precedence over other rules and can override them.
The unlapping procedure was not according to the rules though; and that’s the (only) part where Masi made a mistake.
This did not impact the final result at the top though.
SteveP
18th April 2025, 19:13
The correct unlapping was not done, the call to bring in the SC was therefore not permitted under the rules – it was not in the gift of Masi to selectively unlap.
Following the correct unlapping would have meant the SC came in, and no overtaking would be permitted until the line was crossed, seconds later, for the finish.
S Arkazam
19th April 2025, 7:53
WRONG!
Read the report again, especially #13.
Interestingly, until this week you weren’t even aware of this report, but you shared your engrained opinion over and over again.
Stop making up your own rules to fit your desires.
But unfortunately I don’t think you are capable of doing that.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th April 2025, 20:20
Perhaps the information that led to the FIA failing to meet its obligation to reverse the results, given that they only stood due to FIA wrongdoing, and thus the closure of the FIA record cannot legally be used as an excuse not to change the result.
S Arkazam
18th April 2025, 10:27
The results showed (see above) that there was no reason (nor possibility) to reverse/change the result.
SteveP
18th April 2025, 13:14
Your sentence is incomplete, it should read:
“The results showed (see above) that there was no reason (nor possibility) to reverse/change the result, without deep embarrassment for the FIA”
The Dolphins
17th April 2025, 14:29
Reid should stand as a candidate in the upcoming FIA presidential election. If those who support him are honest in their support he stands half a chance.
baasbas
17th April 2025, 23:48
@The Dolphins
That would actually be a solution. Not that I have high hopes but still..
It’s good people voice their concerns and are prepared to step down pointing at what is wrong in their opinion. But at the same time, those people leaving just leaves an empty spot to fill with any yes-woman*/man… It might be better to try and force change while staying?
*as if
anon
18th April 2025, 7:53
The Dolphins, one of the changes that Sulayem pushed through in 2024 was to chance the criteria for who was able to be elected as president of the FIA. Those changes were – you probably won’t be surprised to hear – designed to exclude several possible alternative candidates from being allowed to stand (it seems David Richards in particular was targeted by those changes).
It’s possible that some of those changes might also mean that Reid is also unable to stand as a candidate, so even if he wanted to, that option may have been closed off by Sulayem already.
S
18th April 2025, 11:09
Was very open in stating that he didn’t want to be FIA President.
Ferdi
17th April 2025, 14:48
Ok, nice but can we turn this into an actionable something please. Just by liking and praising we do not get this fixed.
Witan
17th April 2025, 14:48
If these “supporters” are serious, they would be speaking out. So I’m sure this is the usual manoeuvre claiming a great dealer support for a position that has flaky support at best in an attempt to bulk up his position.
I’d also say that if he was so well supported he wouldn’t need to resign. Resignations are usually the last desperate attempt to achieve an objective which is not widely supported within the organisation.
SteveP
17th April 2025, 18:16
Or tendered with a set of words that say “you aren’t pulling me down into that cesspool” – which I think Reid said, but more politely (in public)
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th April 2025, 20:22
Witan, in this case it comes across as the act of someone who is aware that excessive co-operation with someone breaking the law nets one a conviction for being an accomplice to those crimes. In a system where votes matter, even the perception of such crime is a significant vote-loser (if the voters are against the crime in question).
Leksa (@leksa)
17th April 2025, 17:04
Likes of Trump and Putin have shown by example that in today’s world, once you have authority, you can do whatever you want, and there’s no real threat to lose your position. I fear no one will dare to stand against MBS in 2025 election.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th April 2025, 10:50
It seems to be the way the world is going.
Even Democracies that should know better are voting wannabe Dictators into power.
It appears that we live in interesting times.
SteveP
18th April 2025, 13:16
I thought we had already established that, as “Chinese” curse, there is a large tariff on that phrase.