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A potentially massive scandal hit the Formula 1 world on Monday.
A whistleblower has accused FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem of stepping in to alter the result of a race during the 2023 season.
The accuser claims that Ben Sulayem attempted to use his position to alter the results of the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
FIA Boss Alleged To Have Influenced Results Of 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP
Andrew Benson of the BBC reports Ben Sulayem attempted to alter a penalty handed down to Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso.
Benson writes that the “allegation made by the whistleblower is that Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamas 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.”
Alonso was given a 10-second penalty in the race for work done on his car while he was serving a previous five-second penalty.
The penalty relegated him from the third spot on the podium to fourth place behind Mercedes driver George Russell. But stewards ultimately opted to rescind the penalty, restoring Alonso’s third-place finish.
Russell, to his credit, criticized the penalty as being “too extreme”.
An FIA compliance officer has since filed a formal complaint to its ethics committee. Benson reports that “the ethics committee is expected to take four to six weeks to issue its report.”
Benson and the BBC also independently verified the allegations.
Ben Sulayem is no stranger to controversy. He was elected as FIA president in December 2021. Most recently, he caught heat for an investigation into Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie over claims of a conflict of interest.
Susie Wolff operates in an official capacity for the FIA. But the investigation was halted just two days after it began. No wrongdoing was discovered.