The FIA said Tuesday that its compliance officer has received two complaints “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing body” in seeming reference to whistleblower claims against the president of Formula 1’s governing body.
The BBC reported this week that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. A second BBC report says the same whistleblower also claims Ben Sulayem told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for its high-profile race in November.
A spokesperson for the governing body said the circuit approval had followed FIA protocol, from a sporting and safety perspective, regarding inspection and certification.
The FIA confirmed no details about the allegations or even that Ben Sulayem is the target, but it confirmed that the compliance officer had received a report “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing bodies” and was assessing them to ensure due process was followed.
“It is unfortunate and a source of concern that the matter has been disclosed to the media without any prior authorization and that certain elements of the report were inaccurately reported,” the spokesperson said to The Associated Press and Reuters.
The whistleblower is believed to be a former FIA employee who now works for Formula One Management, a person with direct knowledge of the complaints told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the name and other details are not being disclosed by FIA.
Formula One Management holds the 100-year commercial rights to the championship, starting from 2001, while the FIA is the sanctioning body responsible for rules and safety as well as technical staff.
The allegations against Ben Sulayem are part of what appears to be a bitter power struggle between the governing body and F1 itself. Ben Sulayem was elected FIA president by its membership in 2021, just days after the controversial season finale cost Lewis Hamilton a record-breaking eighth title and gave Verstappen his first world championship.
Ben Sulayem has been a target since his election. He has been accused by F1 rights holder Liberty Media of harmfully downplaying F1’s commercial value; he publicly backed Michael Andretti and General Motors’ bid to expand the 10-team grid despite the refusal of F1 to allow the Americans entry, and he apparently blocked an agreement between the teams and Liberty to double the number of sprint weekends for 2023.
The nighttime Las Vegas race in November was a pillar of Liberty Media-owned Formula One’s efforts to promote the sport in a key U.S. market where it has enjoyed rapid growth.
The BBC said the whistleblower referred to a manager acting “on behest of the FIA president” and seeking “some concerns to prevent the FIA from certifying the circuit before the weekend of the race.”
It said the whistleblower claimed “issues on the circuit were meant to be artificially identified regardless of their actual existence, with the ultimate goal of withholding the licence.”
Officials were unable to find any concerns, however, and the circuit was certified.
The allegations contrast with Ben Sulayem’s comments at last year’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he said he had supported approval of the track despite it not being ready in time for inspection.
“As soon as my team said it was safe … I did it. It was a big thing. If I had said no, it would have been disastrous. But it would have been legal,” he told GP Racing magazine then.
“But I’m careful because I love the sport. At the end of the day, we’re in the same boat. We may have different missions, but we’re in the same boat. We cannot let the sport sink.”
The Vegas allegation came a day after the BBC reported Ben Sulayem, who was elected at the end of 2021, was being investigated over a 10-second penalty given to Alonso at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that initially dropped him from third place to fourth after the chequered flag but was overturned several hours later.
The penalty was issued after Alonso’s Aston Martin team was judged to have carried out work on his car as he served a separate five-second penalty for being out of position in his grid box at the start of the race.
The FIA spokesperson said Monday that “the matter is being discussed internally.”
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
