Hi friends,
It’s the final race week of the season. I feel both relieved and depressed at the same time!
Top Story of the Week: Mohammed Ben Sulayem Wants More Control of the FIA Ethics & Audit Committees
We could have been talking about more interesting and entertaining stories this week, like Ocon being replaced by Doohan for Abu Dhabi, Perez reportedly being let go by Red Bull, Audi selling part of their F1 team before even taking control or the Dutch GP falling off the calendar after 2026.
But no, we have to talk about FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Again. I talked about some of his controversies two weeks ago, but he seems intent on adding more and more to the list.
So what’s going on? The FIA President already has a wide range of powers to make unilateral decisions inside the organisation, and now MBS is proposing rule changes that will give him even more power. I won’t bore you with all the technical details of how FIA Governance works, but essentially he wants more control of the Ethics Committee and the Audit Committee. In short, both committees will no longer operate independently, and can only initiate investigations if directly approved by the President of the FIA Senate – a position appointed by the FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
It just so happens that both these committees have been investigating none other than Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The Audit Committee was investigating him over the $1.5 million President’s Fund, which distributed money to the FIA members that voted for him in the 2021 Presidential election. Sulayem fired the head of the committee, Bertrand Badre and committee member Tom Purves earlier this year.
The Ethics Committee was investigating him over allegations that he tried to interfere in race results and organisations in 2023. Sulayem fired the FIA Compliance Officer Paolo Bassari and CEO Natalie Robyn quit, citing concerns over governance and practices in the president’s office.
The FIA members will vote on this rule change on December 13th.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem himself is up for reelection in December 2025, and as of now it’s looking very likely that he will be reelected, despite all the controversies he has caused since taking office in 2021. I’ve gone into detail about why he’s likely to win reelection, and why the FIA voting system is flawed in this article.
The Rest of the Stories This Week:
- Road Sport Director Andrew Wheatley has left the FIA
- Mohammed Ben Sulayem tells F1 drivers how he runs the FIA is “none of their business”
- Sergio Perez will reportedly leave Red Bull
- Jack Doohan will race for Alpine instead of Esteban Ocon in Abu Dhabi
- The Dutch GP has been extended to 2026, which will be the last edition for now
- The Qatar Investment Authority buys “substantial minority share” of Sauber / Audi F1 Team
- Kevin Magnussen is moving to BMW’s Hypercar team
- Andretti Global has added two former NASCAR executives to the leadership team after Michael Andretti’s departure
- Arthur Leclerc will join his brother Charles on track for Ferrari at FP1 in Abu Dhabi
- Isack Hadjar will do FP1 in Abu Dhabi with Red Bull
- McLaren will run Toyota WEC Champion Ryo Hirakawa for FP1 in Adu Dhabi and Patricio O’Ward for the post-season Young Drivers’ Test
- Esteban Ocon and Ryo Hirakawa will do the Abu Dhabi post-season test for Haas
- Paul Aron will be Alpine’s reserve driver in 2025
- Logan Sargeant is going to ELMS with IDEC Sport Racing and Genesis
- Genesis has revealed the GMR-001 Hypercar that will race in WEC from 2026
- Abbi Pulling wins the 2024 F1 Academy title, and now has to win it again
- LEGO has announced the Red Bull RB20 set will be available in March 2025
- Formula E will be on free-to-air television in the UK
- The debt after the KTM bankruptcy is much higher than anticipated – up to €1.3 billion
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
If you want to support me, you can help fuel the snack addition that powers me through compiling these lists and vetting the stories – you can do so on Buymeacoffee or Patreon.
