FIA President Ben Sulayem eyes sweeping term rule change

Currently, a term as FIA president lasts four years. Under the current statutes, a president may serve a maximum of three terms, totaling twelve years. However, Ben Sulayem wants to change that. This website understands that on June 26, during the FIA's General Assembly in Macau, he intends to introduce a rule to eliminate the term limit for his presidency.

GPblog understands that Ben Sulayem’s proposal is expected to go through, as he has sufficient support, particularly from the smaller member organizations. Ben Sulayem was re-elected FIA president at the end of 2025 after succeeding Jean Todt in 2021. He was already eligible to run for a third term, since that is currently the maximum allowed under the statutes.

At the time of a third election, the Emirati would be 69 years old, after which he could potentially remain in office for another four years. Current rules state that a candidate may be no older than 69 at the time of the election in order to serve a full term.

In 2025, several candidates emerged who also tried to secure the FIA presidency, including Carlos Sainz Sr. and former steward Tim Mayer. They mainly wanted to make the governing body more democratic. However, support for Ben Sulayem was overwhelming, meaning he was re-elected for another term until 2030. "I feel having three years in a complex federation like the FIA is not enough," Ben Sulayem said at the time.

"Do I need more time? Yes. Has it been easy? Never. Has it been enjoyable? Sometimes. Raw deals have been given to the FIA. It doesn't make sense to me that one (Formula 1) driver and one team principal make more money than all of the FIA, and the FIA owns the championship. Is that fair?" said the 64-year-old. In his first term he often made headlines, including after disagreements with Liberty Media.

He also occasionally caused frustration among rally and Formula 1 drivers by taking a hard line on swearing, resulting in hefty fines. Multiple senior FIA officials departed, leading to reports of an exodus within the federation. Questions were also raised about changes to the statutes, which critics say limit the power of the audit and ethics committees.

In addition to the aforementioned candidates, Laura Villars also made an attempt to secure the FIA presidency. Villars believes that the current regulations made it impossible for her to meet all the requirements, after which she filed a lawsuit. According to the rules, candidates must appoint vice presidents from all continents from a list approved by the FIA. With Fabiana Ecclestone, there is only one person on the list for South America, and she had already pledged her support to Ben Sulayem.