Mohammed Ben Sulayem's first term as FIA president will come to an end in 2025, and he is expected to seek re-election. But how did he become the first non-European president in the FIA's history?
Ben Sulayem is expected to seek re-election in 2025
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has often been in the spotlight since he was elected FIA president nearly four years ago, his spell at the helm of the ruling body leaving few people indifferent.
Reid was Ben Sulayem’s second in command and had played an important role during Ben Sulayem’s successful presidential campaign in 2021.
Born in the United Arab Emirates in 1961, Ben Sulayem is a former rally driver, and a successful one, too. Before retiring from driving, he won 14 Middle East Rally Championship titles, a record only surpassed by five-time Dakar rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has 19 crowns.
Ben Sulayem’s clampdown on swearing has made him unpopular with drivers
After he retired from competition in 2002, Ben Sulayem transitioned into motorsport administration, and in 2005 he became the president of the Emirates Motorsports Organization, the body that represents the United Arab Emirates in the FIA.
Three years later, Ben Sulayem was elected as an FIA vice-president for sport and became a member of the World Motor Sport Council, which sets global regulations and standards in racing, marking him as the first Arab to hold such a position.
In 2013, the FIA set up the so-called Motor Sport Development Task Force, which focused on growing motorsport around the world, and appointed Ben Sulayem as chair.
He briefly considered running for FIA president in the 2013 election, but decided against it, believing his wasn’t experienced enough yet. That meant then-president Jean Todt secured his third and final term.
Ben Sulayem was subsequently appointed vice-president for mobility and tourism at the ruling body that year, a position he held until he decided to present his candidacy in the 2021 election.
His push for presidency kicked off with a campaign titled “FIA for Members”, promising to double motorsport participation worldwide and strengthen diversity and inclusion.
Ben Sulayem’s term has been filled with controversy
Ben Sulayem ran against Graham Stoker, who was then the FIA’s deputy president for sport. In the Annual General Assembly in Paris in December 2021, Ben Sulayem won the election with 61.62% of the votes, becoming the first non-European FIA president in its history.
His four-year term will come to an end in 2025, when Ben Sulayem is expected to seek re-election. No candidates have so far announced their intention to run against him.
After angering F1 drivers, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been accused of issuing "gagging orders" to senior racing officials in the latest controversy affecting his term — as rumours swirl that he'll face a challenge in his bid to be re-elected. We explore his tumultuous four-year reign
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Motor Sport
Reid’s exit from the FIA, and his accusations about a lack of transparency and a culture of silence, was the latest controversy in Ben Sulayem’s time at the helm of the governing body.
In 2024, Ben Sulayem was investigated for allegedly interfering with a Formula 1 race result, with accusations that he overturned a penalty handed to Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The FIA ethics committee also investigated accusations from that same whistleblower accusing Ben Sulayem of telling officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit ahead of its debut. Ben Sulayem was cleared of wrongdoing.
His term as president has also included several backlash over controversial decisions like a ban on jewellery and more recently attempts to restrict drivers’ freedom of speech by fining them for swearing while driving or in official press conferences.
