FIA president power struggle theory emerges after shock F1 race director exit

Former Grand Prix driver turned pundit Ralf Schumacher says he “expected more” from FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem in his role.

Under Ben Sulayem’s administration, the FIA has made headlines this week following the departures of race director Niels Wittich and compliance officer Paolo Basarri.

Ralf Schumacher weighs on on latest departures

Early this week, race director Niels Wittich was suddenly confirmed as departing the governing body, with three races left in the season. Wittich has been F1’s sole race director for the past two years, having shared the role with Eduardo Freitas in 2022 following the split with Michael Masi after ’21.

The FIA released a short statement thanking Wittich for his services and stated the German is departing to pursue other opportunities. However, Wittich is quoted by Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin as saying he did not resign from his post.

Just two days later, a report from the BBC alleged compliance officer Paolo Basarri had been dismissed from the governing body as President Mohammed Ben Sulayem had “lost confidence” in him. Basarri’s responsibilities included external and internal investigations regarding compliance with all FIA regulations and statutes and had compiled a report on Ben Sulayem in the last year following allegations Ben Sulayem had interfered in race matters pertaining to penalties and track grading – allegations from which Ben Sulayem was later fully exonerated.

Speaking to Germany’s Formel1.de, Grand Prix winner turned Sky Sport Germany broadcaster Ralf Schumacher said he was caught by surprise by Wittich’s dismissal from the FIA.

“At the beginning [of Wittich’s term], it squeaked and creaked a bit,” he said, believing his compatriot’s heavy-handed approach had not won the drivers over early on.

“He had to point out to drivers that certain safety standards had to be observed, and that caused some problems.”

This would refer to his stance on the banning of piercings and the wearing of jewelry, as well as enforcing underwear standards, leading to stand-offs with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel who made points by wearing excessive amounts of jewelry to an FIA press conference and wearing underwear outside the race suit, respectively.

“But I see him now as a very capable race director who performed his duties well and made the right decisions with red flags and Safety Cars.”

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Schumacher said Ben Sulayem’s role in Wittich’s departure, a role which remains unconfirmed, came about due to a failure to work cohesively with the German.

“[President Ben Sulayem] is different in every aspect from his predecessors, and wants to have a say in every area,” Schumacher said.

“He probably had other ideas, but Wittich wanted to maintain his independence as race director. They obviously could not find common ground. In that case, Ben Sulayem has a lot more power and solved it this way.”

Schumacher, a six-time Grand Prix winner with Williams during his career spanning from 1997 to 2007, said there’s a constant power struggle between the FIA and commercials rights holder Formula One Management (FOM), and was asked whether he believes Ben Sulayem to be a good president for the Federation.

“No. I expected more from him,” Schumacher bluntly said.

“I think a good FIA president uses his influence to improve the situation for the FIA and the drivers.

“You get the feeling that Ben Sulayem is not happy with his position.”

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