F1 News: FIA issue official response to Mohammed Ben Sulayem 'race interference' allegations

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FIA issue official response to Ben Sulayem 'race interference' allegations

The FIA president has been under fire and the organisation has responded

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 6 March 2024 19:14

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The FIA have confirmed that a report has been lodged by the governing body's ethics committee surrounding allegations levelled against president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Ben Sulayem is currently being investigated for alleged 'race interference', as first reported by BBC Sport, after an FIA whistleblower came forward with information about the FIA president.

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It has been alleged that Ben Sulayem interfered with the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, supposedly telling race officials to take away a 10-second time penalty that had been given to Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard finished third, just over five seconds ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, who would have benefitted from the penalty being upheld on the Aston Martin driver.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem is the president of the FIA

Ben Sulayem under fire following allegations

In separate allegations, the 62-year-old has also been accused of telling race officials at the Las Vegas GP to find a way of deeming the circuit not safe for racing, again as reported by BBC Sport.

As it happened, the race weekend went ahead as stewards were not able to find anything wrong with the circuit, but the whistleblower's allegations bring into question the motives of Ben Sulayem.

Now, the FIA have released a statement confirming that they have received a report surrounding 'certain members' of their organisation.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has had some serious allegations levelled against him

The FIA statement read: "The FIA confirms that the Compliance Officer has received a report detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing bodies.

"The Compliance Department is assessing these concerns, as is common practice in these matters, to ensure that due process is meticulously followed."

FIA George Russell Fernando Alonso Mohammed Ben Sulayem