FIA issue statement over Mohammed Ben Sulayem race interference allegations

F1’s governing body - the FIA - have issued a statement responding to allegations surrounding president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, revealing that a report does exist.

The BBC reported earlier this week that Ben Sulayem had allegedly interfered with the race result of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Fernando Alonso had been hit with a 10-second time penalty.

Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to try and get Alonso’s penalty overturned to ensure the Aston Martin driver remained on the podium.

24 hours later, a second set of allegations emerged, this time around the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The same whistleblower who made the claim about Ben Sulayem’s involvement in the Saudi Arabia result said that the FIA president allegedly instructed officials not to certify the new Las Vegas GP circuit.

By not certifying it, it would mean that the FIA deemed it not safe to race on and F1’s glamorous event in America wouldn’t have been able to go ahead.

On Tuesday evening, the FIA issued the following statement, confirming that a report “detailing potential allegations” does exist.

“FIA confirms that the Compliance Officer has received a report detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing bodies,” it read.

“The Compliance Department is assessing these concerns, as is common practice in these matters, to ensure that due process is meticulously followed.”

Alonso's penalty was ultimately removed after Aston Martin's right of review was accepted.

The Spaniard was awarded a penalty after it was deemed that the mechanics were working on his car while serving his five-second time - which is against the rules.

But it was overturned, with the stewards noting: “There was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car. In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly.”

What does the report say? 

The BBC have seen the aforementioned report and noted the following claims from it, with regards to the Las Vegas GP.

The report notes: “[The manager}, who on behest of the FIA president instructed him to find some concerns to prevent the FIA from certifying the circuit before the weekend of the race".

It adds: "The purpose was to find fault with the track in order to withhold the licence" and "asked to be more specific, [the whistleblower] said that issues on the circuit were meant to be artificially identified regardless of their actual existence, with the ultimate goal of withholding the licence."

The Las Vegas GP went ahead as scheduled, although the first day of running was curtailed by a loose drain hole cover.