FIA confirm 'hospital care for Ben Sulayem after being taken ill'

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FIA confirm 'hospital care for Ben Sulayem after being taken ill'

FIA confirm Ben Sulayem will make full recovery

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 8 December 2023 15:32 Updated: 03:04

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The FIA have announced that Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been treated in hospital after being taken ill following a fall and suffering a concussion.

The governing body of Formula 1 confirmed via a spokesperson that its president had been cared for before stating that he would make a full recovery.

Ben Sulayem is still expected to attend the FIA prize giving gala on Friday evening in Baku, where Max Verstappen will collect the drivers' world championship trophy officially.

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However, his role will be a lighter one with the FIA stating he "will do a lot less than initially planned."

News of Ben Sulayem's hospital visit came just two days after he attended an FIA event in Baku, as part of a general assemblies meeting with accompanying video footage now deleted off the social media platform X.

Already this week the FIA have been dragged into an embarrassing episode where they opened an investigation into Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Wolff, F1 Academy director, over claims surrounding a conflict of interest reportedly made by rival team principals.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem had been working in his FIA role two days before the statement was made

Susie Wolff (left) and Toto Wolff (right) have been seeking clarification from the FIA

Max Verstappen holds the world championship trophy that will be presented to him again at the FIA gala

FIA backtrack in Wolff investigation

However, the investigation was barely hours old when F1 teams unanimously declared they made no such complaints over the potential allegations reported.

This led to the FIA releasing a statement claiming that there was no ongoing investigation any longer 'involving any individual', causing widespread confusion.

Susie Wolff responded angrily on Friday morning, claiming the FIA had never contacted her regarding the claims and that the handling of the affair was 'simply not good enough'.

Shortly after via Mercedes' X account, a statement was released on Toto Wolff's behalf confirming they were seeking a full explanation over the saga and that they were in 'legal exchange' with the FIA.