Ben Sulayem: We're here for sport, not the stock market price

Much has been written of 62-year-old Ben Sulayem's reign when he took over from Jean Todt at the end of 2021. The current President has gone on to dismantle a cumbersome organisation. With many jumping ship and others sent packing, the new regime is now firmly ensconced under the first non-European to head the organisation.

Along the way, there have been many 'moments' as Ben Sulayem sought to sort out the F1 Director mess post-Michael Masi and thereafter reaffirm the FIA's authority over matters at the pinnacle of the sport that had been neglected or taken for granted during the Todt regime.

A month over, over two years into his tenure as FIA President, Ben Sulayem spoke to Motorsport Magazin on several matters, starting with comparing himself to Todt: "It's a mission! I was elected to serve. I'm not saying I'm a better president than my predecessor, but I'm different.

"My predecessors didn’t come from a club. That's why I think as a member. After I was a racing driver - I was in rallying for 20 years - I took over the association. That's why I think like an FIA club member.

"That's why I run the FIA ​​differently. I always call for a more dynamic FIA because the nature of our sport is dynamic. You can't have all this speed and then this. The problem-solving has to be faster. We make mistakes, but we learn from them.

"People always make mistakes," acknowledged MBS. "But we can minimize that. With many things: with training, experience, with new equipment. But can you then say that I don't make mistakes? Look at the drivers.

"People always say: How could he, a multiple world champion, make this mistake? Mistakes happen. But you learn from them, you minimize them, you minimize the risk and at least you don't do them again. I raise my hand and I'm not afraid to say: We made a mistake.

"If you leave it vague, a grey area will arise and then you will open up a target for yourself and the association. I have a different background. For me there is clarity. If there are these areas in motorsport, then you have an accident, then you don't win. Clarity is so good."

Ben Sulayem's predecessor Todt appeared to distance himself from the F1 governing side of the FIA to focus his attention on road-safety on a global basis and non-related motorsport programmes the organisation also controls or manages.

How does the future of the FIA look to Ben Sulayem? He ventured: "I see the teams, the technological, the economic and also the political factors - it's a lot, there are a lot of challenges. The FIA ​​has many challenges. I'm not saying it used to be less, but it's different. You have the environment on one side. And you have big teams, there's a lot at stake, we have to move on and bring everything up to date: whether it's the rules or our attitudes.

The FIA President continued: "That's why when I took over the FIA, I first listened, got the information and then restructured the monoposto department. It's not about the president, it's about the system you create. What if something happens to me tomorrow? The FIA, we are the hosts of Formula 1, we are the sporting sovereignty. The restructuring was very important for us.

"I'm proud that the FIA ​​is 118 years old, but we shouldn't be stuck in our mindset forever. We have appointed a managing director to manage day-to-day operations. Of course, we did a lot of research and a lot of people were involved. One of the most important things we did was on the financial side. Our operational costs were high. We haven't laid anyone off, on the contrary, we have more employees. But we have reduced the financial losses that we had.

"They are healthy steps. There are no shortcuts. If you tell someone on the 5th floor to come down to the ground floor now and they jump, they'll break their legs or worse. No, you have to take it step by step, it's healthy to have lasting financial stability. That was a big challenge when I took office because I didn't know it. Even though I sat on the World Council and was a vice president, we knew nothing about the financial problems. Sustainability is so important to us there. Now I'm happier.

"We invest the money and improve our equipment and training. I inherited big problems like court cases or Abu Dhabi [2021]. It is no secret! That happened. We looked at why it happened. It's about listening and then making sure you have the right process in place. If you're talking about an individual race director: What happens if he has a problem? What if his plane is delayed? What if he's sick?

"We looked at the training and track for race directors and stewards and now I feel relieved," admitted Ben Sulayem and added: "It's not over yet. We also brought in other ASNs because there must be good people who want to be good stewards and race directors.

"It's not just about Formula 1: we have so many disciplines in the FIA. You have Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 4, Formula Regional. But you also have rally, which is a big culture. Then you have Formula E, WRX, all of that. The base is so important for us.

"In my manifesto I said that I wanted to double motorsport. People have asked how to do this? But it is doable! How? You have to look at two countries in particular: 1.4 billion people live in China and there are many manufacturers there.

"And then you have 1.4 billion people in India. That's a total of 2.8 billion! And there are fewer than 8,000 racing licenses there. And then you look at Finland: 5.5 million people live there and there are over 12,000 licenses!"

Inevitably, talk of the tumultuous 2021 F1 World Championship finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the night Max Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton to the world title, when Race Director at the time, Masi got it all wrong. History shows it was a proper baptism of fire for Ben Sulayem who inherited what we described at the time as a "shitshow" because there was no better description.

Reflecting on those verz early days of his FIA presidency, Ben Sulayem recalled: "I thought to myself: Wait a minute, let me see what's going on first. I just won the election, let me enjoy this for now! My journey to the presidency took over twelve years!

"But then we looked at it. I'll be honest: I hate being reactive. I always say: that failing to plan is planning to fail. Have a plan for everything! I was bombarded with problems. I was wondering what the hell was going on.

"We are here for sport, I am here to uphold the spirit of sport. It's unbelievable how many people are here and what kind of business it is. But at the end of the day: what is the role and goal of the FIA? Fairness for everyone. We, the rules authority, we are the sporting sovereignty and we are the hosts. We have to do it right. We are not here for the stock market price. We are here for sport.

"That's what we're concentrating on. If we judge fairly, are fair with everyone and have proper leadership, then the big manufacturers will naturally come because they have trust in the regulating authority, in the sporting sovereignty. Supporting motorsports is different than worrying about income. It's about supporting motorsport," declared Ben Sulayem