FIA president proposes major changes as confidential document 'leaked' that could change F1 forever
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has proposed huge changes to the organisation, which are set to be put to a vote at the FIA General Assembly in June, according to reports.
On Tuesday (May 13), BBC Sport reported that the organisation had seen a confidential document containing proposed revisions to the sport’s governing body.
The article claimed that the deadline for candidates for December’s presidential election could be brought forward, which gives "Ben Sulayem the possibility to bar any candidate from running against him and allow him more control over the membership of the FIA Senate”.
The piece goes on to explain how no critic was prepared to comment on the change due to the documents being bound by a non-disclosure agreement.
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One controversial proposal indicates that there "must not be anything in the record of the candidates standing for the election as members of the presidential list that calls into question their professional integrity".
As things stand, the presidential candidates and teams are monitored by the FIA's nominations committee. Any ethical issues are then referred to the FIA's ethics commitee - both bodies are controlled by the president.
The proposal dictates that parties of the FIA "shall avoid any conflicts of interest and must disclose any situation that could lead to such a conflict". This could affect Carlos Sainz Sr., as he is father of Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.
So, if the proposal is approved, this could potentially stop him from running for election - if he chose to.
Sulayem has also proposed changes to the nomination of members of the senate – a body that controls the FIA alongside the president.
The senate is made up of 16 members, 12 of whom are defined in the statutes as representatives of the president.
The final four are currently “proposed” by the president but “confirmed by” the other 12 members.
However, Sulayem proposes that the president should have the final say.
The reason for this is "more flexibility in having the expertise required for the many and varied topics it has to deal with and which may require an urgent decision", as per BBC Sport’s information.
Proposals also relate to changes to the world motorsport council, the organisation’s legislative body.
Current rules say that 21 of the 28 members must be of different nationalities.
Sulayem is proposing, in the interests of "flexibility", that there be "no more than two members of the same nationality among the seven vice-presidents and the 14 elected WMSC members".
The document reportedly states that this could deprive the FIA of "candidates from other backgrounds whose experience and qualities could also be beneficial to the WMSC in fulfilling its missions".
Finally, proposals also explain how candidates for the presidential election must declare their teams 49 days in advance, rather than the current 21 days before.
The reason for this is that the time limit "leaves the nominations committee with very little time to check the eligibility of the 11 candidates (for a presidential team) proposed in a given list".
Luke Davies