FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said his running of the governing body has nothing to do with the Formula 1 drivers, saying it’s “none of their business.”
Amid several key departures from the FIA and a controversial clampdown on swearing, F1’s drivers have called for greater transparency from the governing body.
Moreover, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association penned an open letter to the FIA President to engage in a constructive dialogue, as of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, that letter had gone unanswered.
Following the departures of former F1 Race Director Niels Wittich, long-serving senior steward Tim Mayer and Deputy F2 Race Director Janette Tan, Mercedes’ George Russell said: Just when we’ve asked for transparency and consistency, we’re getting rid of two highly important people in the governing body.
“It’s gone in full 360. We still don’t have any reasoning for Niels’ [Wittich] removal. I don’t think anybody was informed about Tim [Mayer] leaving.”
Ben Sulayem however, has hit out at calls that the FIA needs to be more transparent.
“None of their business,” the FIA President told Motorsport.com in response to the GPDA’s calls.
“With all respect, I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race.”
One of the GPDA’s issues is how driver fines are spent and Ben Sulayem bluntly revealed where money is going.
“But okay, you want to know how much we paid in grassroots? I’ll give you: 10.3 million [euro] we invested in grassroots last year. I think that’s a lot of money.
“In ’24, up to now, over 10 million. Back in grassroots. In karting.”
FIA Departures ‘our business’ says Ben Sulayem
“This is our business,” Ben Sulayem added in response to calls to address FIA departures.
“We’ll do whatever is good for the FIA. So it’s really none of people’s business to interfere in ours. It’s the results that we produce.”
With the dismissal of Wittich and the appointment of Rui Marques as Race Director, the F1 drivers are directly affected by the FIA’s decision-making.
Hence they have called for clarification, especially since Marques was forced to see over F1, Formula 2 and F1 Academy in Qatar following the dismissal of Tan.
But again, Ben Sulayem sees no need for F1 drivers to be clued in on the process.
“Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us? No, they don’t.
“Nobody has to. We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don’t follow someone else’s rule. Simple as this.”
READ MORE – FIA exodus continues with two new exits under Mohammed Ben Sulayem
