Fired steward Mayer critical of Ben Sulayem: 'Running out of people'

The FIA fined the US organisers. At the end of the race, fans were running across the track. Earlier this year, no fine was issued to the organisers of the Canadian Grand Prix, where the same thing happened.

Mayer critical of the FIA after resignation

Mayer then represented the organisation by presenting a 'right to review'. This would have gone down the wrong track with FIA president Ben Sulayem. He then claimed that 'conflict of interest' would be the official reason for his resignation. But Mayer thinks there is more behind it: "In spite of the matter being resolved quietly and amicably, he's still upset and decided to fire me". The steward said that Ben Sulayem saw the 'right to review' as a personal attack.

Mayer claimed that he was sacked in a most unusual way, namely via text message: "For a federation that relies on volunteers to fire by text somebody who has made a significant contribution does not speak well of the management of the federation."

Mayer then expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of events, also referring to the departure of brand-new Formula 2 race director Janette Tan: "There aren't a lot of 'platinum-level' FIA race directors, which is the FIA's highest level certification. I'm one of them. It's a lot of work and, if you are doing the job right, you wake up every day with an ulcer thinking of all the various things you need to be thinking about. They're not doing themselves any favours. They are literally running out of people to do those jobs."