FIA validates complaints against President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over alleged race result tampering

The Formula One's 2023 season has caught up so much intrigue that the fans have been hooked on what has been happening> Be it the colossal Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari news or the Christian Horner allegations, the saga isn't stopping. Recently, some allegations were made against FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The new season has had a dramatic start, and the situation is just getting messier day by day. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has now confirmed that the rumours are indeed true and that they have received some hush complaints over the situation.  

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FIA confirms on receiving complaints over President on two BIG interventions in F1 

In apparent connection with recent whistleblower assertions against President Mohammed Ben Sulayem of Formula 1's governing body, the FIA verified that its compliance officer had received two formal complaints outlining potential accusations involving particular members of the organization's governing body.

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

“The FIA confirmed no details about the allegations or even that Ben Sulayem is the target. In an additional statement given to The Associated Press, an FIA spokesman said: “It is unfortunate and a source of great concern that the matter has been disclosed to the media without any prior authorization and that certain elements of the report were inaccurately reported,” the FIA said in its statement.

This week, the BBC revealed that Fernando Alonso was issued a penalty during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year and that Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, allegedly interfered to reverse it.

According to the informant, Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the vice president of sport for the Middle East and North Africa region of the FIA, to express his opinion that Alonso's 10-second penalty should be revoked because of repairs made to his car while he was serving a five-second penalty. After the penalty was reversed, Alonso shoved George Russell of Mercedes AMG off the podium.

The same informant allegedly said that the President advised authorities not to authorize the Las Vegas circuit for its race in November 2023 and to find a way not to declare the Las Vegas circuit safe for racing, according to a second investigation, 

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem was chosen by the FIA membership to serve as its president in 2021 only a few days after the contentious season finale, which robbed Lewis Hamilton of a record-breaking eighth championship and handed Max Verstappen his maiden world championship.

(With AP Inputs)