Mohammed Ben Sulayem has found himself in the headlines once again, with the FIA president reportedly under investigation for allegedly attempting to interfere with a Formula One race result.
BBC first reported on Tuesday that Ben Sulayem, who stepped back from direct involvement with the F1 in February last year, is alleged to have intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
That is according to a report by the FIA compliance officer to its ethics committee, which was seen by the BBC and reportedly alleges Ben Sulayem pushed for the 10-second penalty that Alonso received in the race to be overturned.
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Crucially, that penalty initially was the difference between fifth place and a podium finish for Alonso and Aston Martin in that race after Alonso initially came in third behind Red Bull pair Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Alonso had been penalised for work completed on his car while serving a previous five-second penalty.
“The allegation made by the whistleblower is that Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa – the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, who was in Saudi Arabia for the race in an official capacity – and made it clear he thought Alonso’s penalty should be revoked,” claimed the BBC report.
BBC went on to add that the whistleblower told the FIA that Ben Sulayem “pretended the stewards to overturn their decision to issue” the penalty to Alonso.
Pretended, in this case, meaning required or expected as per the Italian word ‘pretendere’.
Tuesday’s development is just the latest controversy surrounding Ben Sulayem since his appointment at the end of 2021, first warning Lewis Hamilton to expect “no forgiveness” if he was found guilty of breaching the F1’s rules after not attending the end of season gala.
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That was not his only run-in with Hamilton, with Ben Sulayem also pushing for a crackdown on drivers wearing jewellery, which the Mercedes driver took exception to.
Ben Sulayem was also criticised for comments during the Monaco Grand Prix in 2022 where he said drivers should not be putting politics and personal beliefs before the sport.
That also caused friction with Hamilton, who said he would continue to speak his mind.
Ben Sulayem also was scrutinised after historical sexist remarks he made in 2001 surfaced.
The 61-year-old was quoted as saying he did not like “women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth.”