After the investigation opened for allegedly influencing Fernando Alonso’s penalty in the Jeddah Grand Prix and beyond, the FIA has cleared Mohammed Ben Sulayem of all charges.
As with the Christian Horner case, the matter involving Mohammed Ben Sulayem has also ended inconclusively. After the investigation opened for allegedly influencing Fernando Alonso’s penalty in the Jeddah GP and beyond, the FIA has indeed cleared the Emirati president of all charges. However, doubts about his conduct remain.
The FIA ethics committee exonerates Mohammed Ben Sulayem from the accusations
“Concerns about potential interference were brought to the attention of the FIA Compliance Officer and subsequently transmitted to the FIA Ethics Committee under Article 32.2.5 of the FIA Statute,” reads the statement issued a few minutes ago by the federation.
“A solid and comprehensive 30-day independent review followed, which included interviews with 11 witnesses. The accusations against the FIA President were found to be unfounded. Solid evidence, beyond any reasonable doubt, was presented in support of the decision of the FIA Ethics Committee.”
“The President of the FIA has been cleared of any wrongdoing regarding the accusations (i) of interfering with the decision of the Sporting Commissioners to revoke an additional penalty on car 14 (Alonso, ed.) following a challenge by Aston Martin in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, and (ii) of attempting to interfere with the track certification process for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.”
“The certification was completed and approved in due time. The President’s full cooperation, transparency, and compliance throughout the process of this investigation were highly appreciated.”
In addition to the events in Jeddah 2023, the FIA also targeted an alleged obstruction in the homologation process of the Las Vegas track, inaugurated last November.
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However, the ethics committee has determined that Mohammed Ben Sulayem did not commit any infringement here either. A sigh of relief for the Emirati former rally driver and current president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, at least for now. The only issue that still has knots to untie is the one related to Christian Horner, although it will probably drag on. Stay tuned for updates.
Source: f1ingenerale
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