Formula 1 & The Epstein Files: McLaren sponsor DP World fire CEO Sultan bin Sulayem

On Thursday, we reported on Sultan bin Sulayem's fallout, as he is a character who touches Formula 1 in more ways than one. Furthermore, the news went viral on major international mainstream media. Many of which published the gory details, links which are provided at the end of this post.

For us covering the entire, unabridged Formula 1 narrative it is impossible to ignore considering DP World's ties to F1's World Champion team.

When GRANDPRIX247 approached McLaren media for comment regarding the reports on Thursday, they replied simply: "We won’t be commenting."

The ball was clearly out of the team's hands, and were probably aware a call was coming from DP World. One imagines McLaren are relieved that the Dubai company acted swiftly to remove the disgraced Emirati from the powerful position he held.

For McLaren staff to have to tolerate such a person in their workspace on GP weekends, interacting with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, let alone the rest of the Formula 1 paddock, would've been challenging to say the least.

They have been spared! Today, Reuters reports that the Dubai Media Office confirmed the appointment of Essa Kazim as chairman of the board of directors of DP World and Yuvraj Narayan as group chief executive officer.

Earlier in the week, members of the U.S. Congress revealed that DP World's long-serving chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem's name appeared in the Epstein Files, prompting renewed scrutiny of his past interactions with the deceased convicted sex offender, human trafficker, blackmailer and extortionist. What was discovered was damning, to say the least.

Sulayem, one of Dubai's most influential businessmen and the brother of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has led DP World for over four decades, through an expansion that turned it into one of the world's largest logistics companies, which it claims handles around 10% of global trade.

The UK development finance agency, British International Investment, and Canada's second-largest pension fund have suspended new investment with DP World over the Epstein allegations. (Additional reporting by Jana Choukeir for Reuters)