Fรฉdรฉration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was chosen to serve the best interests of Formula 1's governing body and, with that in mind, the Emirati is doing things his way for the good of the sport and not for the prices of the stock market. .
Much has been written about the reign of Ben Sulayem, 62, when he took over from Jean Todt at the end of 2021. The current president has dismantled a cumbersome organization. With many left and others fired, the new regime is now firmly ensconced under the first non-European to head the organization.
Along the way, there have been many "moments" when Ben Sulayem attempted to sort out the post-Michael Masi F1 boss mess and then reassert the FIA's authority over matters at the top of the sport that had been neglected or given up. sitting during the Todt Regime.
A month later, more than two years into his tenure as FIA President, Ben Sulayem spoke to motorsports magazine on several issues, starting with comparing himself with Todt: โIt's a mission! I was chosen to serve. I'm not saying I'm a better president than my predecessor, but I'm different.
โMy predecessors did not come from any club. That's why I think as a member. After being a racing driver (I was in rallies for 20 years) I took over the association. That's why I think as a member of the FIA โโclub.
โThat's why I run the FIA โโdifferently. I always ask for a more dynamic FIA because the nature of our sport is dynamic. You can't have all this speed and then this. Problem solving has to be faster. We make mistakes, but we learn from them.
Ben Sulayem: Transparency, honesty and fairness at the top
"People always make mistakes," MBS acknowledged. โBut we can minimize that. With many things: with training, with experience, with new equipment. But then you can say that I don't make mistakes? Look at the drivers.
โPeople always say: How could he, a multiple world champion, make this mistake? Mistakes happen. But you learn from them, you minimize them, you minimize the risk and at least you don't do them again. I raise my hand and I'm not afraid to say: we made a mistake.
โIf you leave it vague, a gray area will emerge and then you will open up a target for yourself and the association. I have a different experience. For me there is clarity. If these areas exist in motorsport, then you have an accident and you don't win. The clarity is very good.โ
Ben Sulayem's predecessor Todt appeared to distance himself from the FIA's governing side in F1 to focus his attention on global road safety and unrelated motorsports programs that the organization also controls or manages.
How do you see the future of the FIA โโfor Ben Sulayem? He ventured: โI see the teams, the technological, economic and also political factors: there are many, there are many challenges. The FIA โโhas many challenges. I'm not saying it was less before, but it's different. You have the environment on one side. And there are big teams, the stakes are high, we have to move forward and update everything: whether it's the rules or our attitudes.
Ben Sulayem: Everything must be improved, we are on the right path
The FIA โโPresident continued: โThat is why, when I took over the leadership of the FIA, I first listened, obtained the information and then restructured the monoposto department. It's not about the president, it's about the system you create. What if something happens to me tomorrow? The FIA, we are the hosts of Formula 1, we are the sporting sovereignty. The restructuring was very important for us.
โI am proud that the FIA โโturns 118 years old, but we should not stay stuck in our mentality forever. We have appointed a CEO to manage daily operations. Of course, we did a lot of research and a lot of people participated. One of the most important things we did was the financial aspect. Our operating costs were high. We have not laid off anyone, on the contrary, we have more employees. But we have reduced the financial losses we had.
โThey are healthy steps. There are no short cuts. If you tell someone on the fifth floor to go down to the ground floor now and they jump, they will break their legs or worse. No, you have to go step by step, it is healthy to have lasting financial stability. That was a big challenge when I took over because I didn't know. Although I was part of the World Council and was vice president, we did not know anything about the financial problems. Sustainability is very important to us there. Now I'm happier.
โWe invested the money and improved our equipment and training. I inherited big problems like court cases or Abu Dhabi. [2021]. It's no secret! That happens. We analyze why it happened. It's about listening and then making sure you have the right process. If you're talking about an individual race director: What if they have a problem? What happens if your plane is delayed? What if he is sick?
Ben Sulayem: As a sport you cannot trust a single individual
โWe have analyzed the training and the track for the race directors and marshals and now I feel relieved,โ admitted Ben Sulayem, adding: โThis is not over yet. We also brought other ASNs because there must be good people who want to be good marshals and race directors.
โIt's not just about Formula 1: we have many disciplines in the FIA. You have Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 4, Formula Regional. But there is also the rally, which is a great culture. Then you have Formula E, WRX, all that. The base is very important to us.
โIn my manifesto I said I wanted to double motor sport. Have people asked how to do this? But it's doable! As? You have to look at two countries in particular: 1.4 billion people live in China and there are many manufacturers there.
โAnd then you have 1.4 billion people in India. That's a total of 2.8 billion! And there are less than 8,000 racing licenses there. And then we look at Finland: 5.5 million people live there and there are more than 12,000 licenses.โ
Inevitably, there is talk of the tumultuous finale of the 2021 F1 World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the night Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton for the world title, when the race director at the time, Masi, mistaken. History shows that it was a true baptism of fire for Ben Sulayem, who inherited what we described at the time as a โshit showโ because there was no better description.
December 2021 will be remembered for many things!
Reflecting on those early days of his FIA presidency, Ben Sulayem recalled: โI thought: wait a minute, let me see what's happening first. I just won the election, let me enjoy this for now! My journey to the presidency lasted more than twelve years!
โBut then we analyzed it. I'll be honest: I hate being reactive. I always say: not planning is planning to fail. Have a plan for everything! I was bombarded with problems. I was wondering what the hell was going on.
โWe are here for sport, I am here to defend the spirit of sport. It's amazing how many people are here and what kind of business it is. But at the end of the day: what is the role and objective of the FIA? Justice for all. We, the authority that governs the rules, are the sporting sovereignty and we are the hosts. We have to do it right. We're not here for the stock market price. We are here for sport.
โThat's what we're focusing on. If we judge fairly, we are fair to everyone and we have adequate leadership, then the big manufacturers will come naturally because they trust the regulatory authority, the sporting sovereignty. Supporting motorsports is different than caring about revenue. It's about supporting motorsport,โ said Ben Sulayem.
