By Joe Murphy
The President of motorsport’s governing body the FIA, is at the heart of a potential scandal. Mohammed Ben Sulayem is currently under investigation as there is evidence to suggest he interfered over an official Formula 1 race result last season. If found guilty, he could face banishment from the sport. The driver related to the accusation is current Aston Martin driver; Fernando Alonso.
A whistleblower has revealed that the penalty in question is the one given at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The revelation comes just days prior to the 2024 event from the same venue.
It has been reported that he was present in Saudi Arabia for the race and made it clear he thought Alonso’s penalty should be revoked. This was then disguised as the stewards overturning their decision to hide the fact the President had got involved.
Alonso had been given a 10-second penalty for work done on his car while he was serving a previous five-second penalty. The penalty in question had dropped Alonso from third place, behind Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, to fourth, now behind Mercedes’ George Russell too. Withdrawing the penalty meant the Spaniard achieved that podium instead of the British driver. An independent enquiry now needs to take place to confirm the legitimacy of these claims.
More specifically, the penalty was originally imposed because Alonso’s car had been touched by the rear jack before the full time duration had elapsed, in contravention of F1 rules. The penalty was correctly awarded and therefore should have stood.
At the time, the reason given by the stewards for overturning the decision was linked to a discussion that had taken place between the teams and the FIA. A loophole was found that enabled Alonso to, OK this occasion, remain unpunished.
Long story short, it was deemed that the jack propping up the car was not “touching the car” as stated in the rules that you aren’t allowed to do.
The revelation of a potential attempt to interfere over the penalty decision is the latest in a series of controversies to embroil Ben Sulayem since being elected at the end of the 2021 season. Despite Wheel2Wheel Reports reaching out, both the man in question and the FIA have declined to comment thus far.
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