‘Going in wrong direction’ – F1 drivers have lost confidence in leadership

Formula One drivers are fed up and losing confidence in the FIA and the governing body’s ­president, ­Mohammed Ben Sulayem, after receiving no response to their ­collective criticism of both in a ­public statement. They had called for dialogue to address their grievances but the FIA has not replied since it was issued two weeks ago.

This weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is the first meeting since the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) issued its statement, a damning indictment of the FIA and Ben Sulayem, demanding they stop treating all 20 drivers on the grid like children. It addressed the recent ­controversy over ­swearing, took issue with the “tone and ­language” used by Ben Sulayem in relation to his ­objections to the ­swearing and ­questioned the ­financial ­transparency of the FIA in how the organisation used the money from fines imposed. The ­Mercedes driver George Russell, who is a ­director of the GPDA, was blunt in his ­disappointment and that of other drivers at the lack of any response from the FIA when asked if they had any confidence in the leadership of the governing body in Las Vegas.

“I’m not too sure, to be honest,” he said. “If we feel we are being ­listened to and some of the changes we are requesting are implemented, because we are only doing it for the benefit of the sport, then maybe our confidence will increase. There are a number of drivers who feel fed up with the whole situation and it only seems to be going, to a degree, in the wrong direction.”

He was joined by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who insisted the FIA was failing to engage properly. “It just shows that more than ever the drivers are united,” he said. “Which perhaps was not something you have seen in the past. There are things that need ­addressing and the FIA needs to do better at working and collaborating with us.”

The critique issued by the GPDA was the first such statement the ­drivers had felt the need to issue publicly for seven years, a move they believed they had been all but forced into making because they felt they were not being listened to by the FIA and specifically Ben Sulayem, who has been involved in controversies repeatedly since he took over in December 2021.

“Getting things to change or ­promises upheld seems slightly more challenging,” said Russell. “Maybe the FIA or the president did not ­recognise how seriously we all felt. Over the course of 20 races this year and even last year we spoke about a number of topics. All the drivers, we feel pretty similar, we know what we want from the sport and the ­directions it has been heading and we feel we want a small U-turn on a number of topics and we want to work together with the FIA on this and we felt that has not been ­happening at all from the president.”

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Russell also suggested that Ben Sulayem, in not responding to ­questions about how the funding from fines was used, had failed to meet promises made during his ­election campaign.

“For us when we were hearing from the FIA a ­couple of years ago when they had the ­presidential elections they were all about ­transparency,” he said. “About where the money was going to be reinvested in terms of grassroots racing, in which we are all in favour. We just want the ­transparency, an ­understanding of what was promised from the beginning.”

The FIA has yet to make any response to the GPDA statement or on Russell’s comments in Las Vegas.

The championship could be decided in Saturday night’s race on the streets of the city, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen able to take his fourth consecutive title if he finishes in front of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Norris must outscore the Dutchman by at least three points to take the fight into the next round in Qatar.

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