A number of scandals have led to mounting pressure on Mohammed Ben Sulayem to resign from his post.
As per the readers of Express Sport, Mohammed Ben Sulayem ought to resign from his role as President of the Federation. Over the past 12 months, the Emirati official has been embroiled in numerous controversies; most recently, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton expressed his lack of support for him.
Since the end of the 2021 season, Ben Sulayem has served as the acting president of the FIA, replacing the long-serving Jean Todt after the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Since then, he has been under intense scrutiny due to a number of issues that have made headlines recently.
Following the conclusion of an internal investigation by the FIA’s ethics committee, which evaluated reports from the BBC alleging Ben Sulayem had attempted to sway the outcome of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and to deny the Las Vegas circuit official certification, the discussion surrounding his future has once again taken center stage in the Formula One discourse.
Ben Sulayem was found not guilty of any of the charges made in the whistleblower reports, but the rumors have only made his situation more hazy. However, the next FIA presidential election isn’t expected to happen until 2025.
In an Express Sport survey of 3,878 readers, 68% said that Ben Sulayem ought to resign from his position as FIA president in light of the current scandals and the fact that some members of the paddock don’t agree with him. Merely 32% of the respondents thought the 62-year-old was still the best candidate for the position.
One significant individual who concurs with that 68% portion is Hamilton, who openly declared that he did not support Ben Sulayem. When asked if he still had the Mercedes star’s support ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, he answered straight away, saying, “[He] never has.”
The Mercedes star’s deep distaste for the way the investigation into Susie Wolff, the partner of his team principal Toto Wolff and director of the F1 Academy project, has been handled has been the source of Hamilton’s most recent annoyance with Ben Sulayem.
Following the contentious 2023 conflict of interest investigation into her by Ben Sulayem’s team, the former Williams test driver filed a lawsuit against the FIA. The investigation sparked strong criticism and heightened hostility toward the president-in-office.
Hamilton said, “I love that she has taken it out of this world and is fighting it from the outside. She is sending such a great message in a world where people are often silenced.” Thus, perhaps, this action that she is taking now will bring about change and benefit things. particularly for women.”
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