Emirati former rally driver and current president of the FIA Mohammed ben Sulayem has admitted that he is open to the possibility of supporting an increase from three to six sprint events in the 2023 Formula 1 championship, but pointed out that he will not be bullied into doing so.
Many accused him of being ‘greedy’ for demanding more money in return for agreeing to run more Sprint races in 2023 when this topic was evaluated during a meeting of the F1 Commission in April, but Mohammed ben Sulayem firmly denied this.
The Commission comprises the governing FIA, commercial rights holders Formula One Group, and the ten Formula 1 teams – the three wings of the sport. Each has 10 votes available, while a super majority of 26 is needed for more Sprint events to take place next season.
Despite the fact that the FIA was against the idea at the meeting, Mohammed ben Sulayem explained: “I support the races if it is the right thing to do. I’m not saying it is the wrong thing. I am saying there is time to decide. This is for 2023, not this season. Our house isn’t on fire. We have what is called a democracy: Formula One (Group) have a vote, the teams have a vote, I have a vote. If you then say I can’t abstain or take time to study the proposals then you are not allowing me the freedom of democracy.” – he said, as reported by Sportsmail.
The FIA president added he was not aware of who accused him of ‘greed’ in a leak to the Press, but explained:
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“I did not ask for more money but if I had I would have wanted to use it in the right way – to invest in the proper regulation of the sport. We say Formula One is the pinnacle, and it is, so we at the FIA need the resources to govern the technical and financial side of a billion-dollar sport in a manner that respects that. We need the capability to observe those standards. So, specifically with regard to the sprints, I have to see whether my team on the ground can absorb the extra workload the races would entail. After Abu Dhabi (when Lewis Hamilton controversially lost the title to Max Verstappen) people said we should change this or that. So I don’t understand why we would suddenly ask the FIA team to do more. An incident happens in the future, such as one involving a safety car, and then what? We need to look into all this and make a sensible decision. Let us run our operation. We are going to fix it.” – Mohammed ben Sulayem said.
Despite the fact that the Formula One Group contribute $40million of their profits each season to the FIA, the organisation suffered an operating loss of $27.6m last year, as former Ferrari boss Jean Todt was in his final year as FIA president.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem is confident he can improve the financial factor in the next two years and has began this process by reducing Jean Todt’s presidential spending with 25 per cent.
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