Is Mohammed Ben Sulayem at risk of a challenger?

Reid mentioned in his resignation post that the principles (greater transparency, stronger governance, and more collaborative leadership) he signed on to help deliver were being set aside. He wrote that he could no longer "in good faith, remain part of a system that no longer reflects them."

Reid is not the only one who feels this way as many people have been criticising Ben Sualyem.

Saward wrote, "It's all a bit of a mess, but it seems that many people within the FIA ​​have decided that Ben Sulayem is not the president they wanted."

Now, it is believed that someone will be running against him for the next term of presidency. Ben Sulayem has led the FIA since winning the election at the end of 2021.

While nobody has stepped forward yet, it has been said that someone is willing to run against him. Saward wrote about the rumoured candidate: "We'll see how it plays out, but there is a rumour that a rival candidate will emerge from the federation's mobility branch in December. We don't know who that is yet, but Ben Sulayem will be hoping that all his messy loose ends (such as the arbitration case with Hitech F1 and the Susie Wolff libel case) don't come back to haunt him in the coming months."

Ben Sulayem's standing has, reportedly, done nothing but worsen through the years with several controversial statements, policies and dramatic changes in the way the governing body acts. Indications suggest these measures have alienated him from drivers and teams, not just in F1 but also from the WRC, for instance, and fellow FIA colleagues as well. Whether and how this will impact his re-election bid at all remains uncertain.

This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut.