Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s controversial re-election as president of motor racing’s FIA has been ratified following a process where he stood unopposed.
The 64-year-old was the only candidate in the election due to a quirk in the governing body’s rules that barred other candidates from challenging him.
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Potential candidates that had intended to stand included former FIA senior steward Tim Mayer, former racing driver Laura Villars, and Belgian journalist Virginie Philpott.
Ben Sulayem won 91.51% of the vote in the election, which was held at the FIA General Assembly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Friday.
That means 8.5% of the clubs eligible decided not to vote for the only candidate.
Ben Sulayem will serve a second four-year term ending in December 2029. He has already served as president since December 2021, when he succeeded Jean Todt.
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By GlobalDataThe re-elected president said: “Thank you to all our FIA members for voting in remarkable numbers and placing your trust in me once again. We have overcome many obstacles, but here today, together, we are stronger than ever.
“It is truly an honour to be FIA president, and I am committed to continuing to deliver for the FIA, for motorsport, for mobility, and for our member clubs in every region around the world.”
The election is, however, facing an ongoing legal challenge in France,, brought by Villars. A first hearing into the merits of the action is scheduled to be heard on 16 February.
Under FIA rules, candidates for last Friday’s election were required to submit a list of potential team members on October 24. The team had to feature 10 names, including the president, president of the Senate, two deputy presidents, and seven vice-presidents from each of the FIA’s global regions.
However, there was only one candidate from the World Council list available as a potential vice-president from South America – Brazil’s Fabiana Ecclestone, wife of former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, who had already backed Ben Sulayem.
With no other South American representatives to choose from, no other candidates were technically eligible to stand for the election, according to the current FIA statutes, leaving Ben Sulayem unopposed.
This added to the growing discontent within some circles in motorsport over how the FIA, and particularly Ben Sulayem, has been changing how the governing body operates, in his favour.
Earlier this year, for example, a new rule was passed to allow the FIA Senate, controlled by Ben Sulayem, to nominate two candidates to the world council, effectively giving the president the power to unblock himself from standing for election if he was unable to meet the requirement for vice-presidential candidates. That move is not available to non-incumbents.
The president has also recently removed senior figures in the FIA who have raised concerns over his conduct and that of the organization, including former chief executive Natalie Robyn, head of the audit committee Bertrand Badre, compliance officer Paolo Basarri, and Mayer, who was removed from his role last November.
At the time, Mayer accused Ben Sulayem of a “failure in leadership” and a “reign of terror”, while Robyn said the FIA has “serious ongoing structural challenges”.
A statement by the FIA following Ben Sulayem's election said his first term had marked "a wide-ranging transformation, improving governance, operations and restoring the financial health of the federation".
It also referred to "wider institutional reform reform over the last four years, with strengthened budgetary discipline, enhanced external audit processes and modernised governance structures, resulting in greater transparency, accountability and professional standards across the organisation".
The FIA also claims that under Ben Sulayem’s leadership, it has reversed a €24 million ($28.2 million) loss in 2021 to an operating result of €4.7 million in 2024, describing it as “the strongest financial result the federation has seen in almost 10 years.”
At the General Assembly, the FIA announced a 2025 operating result forecast of €4.4 million.
Meanwhile, the FIA and iconic motor racing series Formula 1 (F1) have confirmed that both parties, and all 11 teams, have signed the 2026 Concorde Governance Agreement.
This follows the announcement in March that the 2026 Commercial Concorde Agreement had been signed by all the teams and F1.
Together, these agreements constitute the ninth Concorde Agreement, a contract which defines the regulatory framework and commercial and governance terms of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship until 2030.
F1 has stated that the Concorde Agreement “ensures that the key stakeholders in the sport, Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder, the FIA as the governing body of world motorsport, and the F1 teams, are fully aligned on the fundamental commercial and governance structures that will underpin the next five years of the sport as it heads into a new era in 2026 with exciting and innovative regulations for the power unit and cars.”
Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1, said: “This agreement ensures that Formula 1 is in the best possible position to continue to grow around the world. I want to thank Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and all the teams for the collaboration and determination to achieve the best results for the entire sport in our discussions.
“We have a huge amount to be proud of, but we also are focused on the opportunities and exciting potential for Formula 1 in the years ahead.”
