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Ben Sulayem slams criticism: “It's easy to blame the FIA”
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has explained the FIA's decision to deploy more stewards and race directors from the 2025 F1 season onwards. The president also insists that it is better to come up with solutions instead of criticising the governing body.
Ben Sulayem hits back at FIA criticism
Ben Sulayem said during the FIA Officials Summit in Madrid that there will be more than one race director in 2025. Who and how many, that will be clear at a later time. The FIA president emphasises that there are both financial and logistical challenges associated with the work of officials.
"Then the teams can complain, the drivers can complain, but then they don’t want to pay for it," says the 63-year-old Emirati. "This requires a lot of investment. It has taken us more than two and a half years to get where we are now. Do we have the results? We’ll know the results when the season starts."
According to the FIA president, it is "very important" to have a pool of race directors: "What would happen if the race director decided not to go or if he got sick? It’s the same as the FIA. If something happens to me tomorrow, the FIA will continue to function without me, so this has to be a system. It’s not about individuals."
Ben Sulayem thinks that far too many accusations are being directed towards the FIA. Instead, he would prefer constructive criticism: "There are a lot of mistakes, you know, and then you blame the FIA. It’s easy to blame the FIA. Why can’t you be, as you said, productive in your criticism and say, how can we find a solution?”
This article is written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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