F1 News: FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem Wanted To Prevent Las Vegas GP As Per Report
Controversies continue to pour down on Formula 1, with the most recent one revolving once again, around FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Following allegations of purportedly influencing the results of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, reports now suggest he attempted to obstruct the Las Vegas Grand Prix track from attaining Grade 1 status for hosting F1 races.
Key Takeaways:
- FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem faces renewed controversy, accused of attempting to obstruct the Las Vegas Grand Prix track from obtaining Grade 1 status for hosting F1 races, following prior allegations of influencing the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix results.
- A BBC report reveals a whistleblower's account of being instructed, allegedly by their manager at Ben Sulayem's behest, to find artificial faults in the Las Vegas Grand Prix street circuit to prevent its homologation for hosting Grand Prix races.
- Questions arise about Ben Sulayem's motives amid tensions between Formula 1 owner Liberty Media and the FIA, with the Las Vegas Grand Prix being a pivotal event for promoting the sport globally, despite attempts to extract more money from F1 by the FIA.
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As per a report by BBC, a whistleblower has revealed being asked by their manager ahead of the inaugural event, at the behest of the FIA president, to cancel the homologation of the Las Vegas Grand Prix street circuit by finding artificial faults in it so it could not be allotted the license to host Grand Prix races.
The shocking report has raised several questions about Ben Sulayem's intentions if the allegations are found to be true. After all, the race in Las Vegas was the first one to be fully hosted and managed by Formula 1 owner Liberty Media.
To delve further into the report, as per the whistleblowers' accounts, the instructions provided by their manager could not be complied with, since they yielded no findings that could hinder the circuit from obtaining its Grade 1 status.
The fresh claims come after a report was which was released on Monday by the BBC in which an FIA whistleblower alleges that Ben Sulayem intervened to ensure a penalty was imposed on Fernando Alonso during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The BBC has reportedly obtained a report submitted to the FIA’s ethics committee by FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri, which contains details from whistleblowers regarding two incidents.
Here's what BBC has to further state about the matter concerning the Las Vegas Grand Prix:
"It is not clear why Ben Sulayem would wish for FIA officials to refuse to certify the Las Vegas track.
"The race was a poster event for F1, and commercial rights holders Liberty Media had invested at least £500m in the event in the hope of using it to promote the sport in the US and across the globe.
"But the backdrop to Las Vegas, the penultimate race of last season, was two years of tension between Liberty Media and the FIA, in which Ben Sulayem on numerous occasions was keen to extract more money from F1 for the FIA.
"The contract between the two parties sees the commercial rights holder pay the FIA about $40m a year to perform its duties in legislating F1."