The race weekend in Bahrain was already set to be political after confirming that there was debate over future power unit regulations on Friday.
It could be raging at the best of times to bring together power unit makers, team stakeholders, FIA and F1 representatives to discuss the direction the sport is headed. However, if some people describe the meeting itself as a “complete waste of time,” there may be some important objections to cite one expected attendee.
The discussion centers around the length of time V6-regulated incoming sets run against the background of specific stakeholders driving the return of V10 engines running on sustainable fuels in the near future.
There is a clear division between manufacturers who are interested in and uninterested in such discussions, but this topic has been raised by President Fear Mohammed Ben Slayem, which could be a key point for competition.
It’s not like Ben Suleme and the FIA need it more right now.
24 hours before the meeting took place, Sports Robert Reed’s Vice President of FIA announced his resignation, citing the “governance crisis” that he can no longer be associated with. In a press release from Lead, he discussed the “fundamental breakdown of governance standards within the global governing body of motorsport.”
One reason it was so powerful is that the leads stood within the organizational structure. He was a key figure in Ben Slayem’s campaign and was extremely advanced within the FIA along with Senate President Carmelo Sants de Barros and Vice President of Automobile, Mobility and Tourism, Tim Ciaman.
But just before Ben Slayem was set up to make his first appearance at the F1 event, a well-known platform for the president, he saw his leadership under attack.
Just a day ago, David Richards, the chairman of Motorsports UK, who had already publicly expressed concerns, used more powerful words, claiming that “FIA governance and constitutional organizations are too opaque to the president’s hands and focused on focus.”
The topic of breach within the FIA will naturally become topics throughout Thursday, but George Russell, a driver’s spokesman for the role of Grand Prix Driver Association (GPDA) director, appeared to be largely indifferent to the situation.
“Unfortunately, whenever I hear the news from that side of the sport, I don’t think that’s a really big surprise,” Russell said. “It’s obviously a shame to see people who are so respected within the sport that they’ve been there for so long. So it’s a shame to see them, and hopefully you’ll get stability faster than you’ve had later.”
But, as with Russell, he was still trying to elaborate. The Mercedes driver said his indifference was shared with many of his peers on the grid that their involvement doesn’t affect many scenarios, but suggests that there is a line on one side and the F1 has the FIA on the other, whether intentional or not.
“He reached out and he wrote to the driver just to explain his decision,” Russell said. “We haven’t spoken to him yet. It was obviously news for us this morning. It was at least when I learned about the news and it was like a shared among the drivers.
“In the end we were reaching a point where these things happen so frequently and we were trying to get involved in the past as drivers, so we didn’t make much progress.
“So I have to be honest. We are now at the point where our actions have little impact on those people. And we have to trust our team and Formula 1.
Russell’s attitude extended to the situation where Carlos Sainz found himself and was fined for delaying the national anthem in Japan while suffering from stomach discomfort. Sainz could have been sworn at the FIA press conference while discussing the topic, then headed his way towards another fine, with Russell making a very pointed comment about “the driver’s trust and faith currently sitting now.”
“It’s a pretty expensive poop,” he said. “Look, we’ve been talking about this for six months. Honestly, I don’t even want to give more airtime. From my own personal perspective, we’ve said everything we had to say in the last few months, so unfortunately it had little or no impact.
“Every driver has 100% trust and faith in Stefano and Formula 1. They know they are working with their teams. They’re just putting things out, looking at stability and collaboration, and they’re looking for collaboration in the future. It’s pointless to fight these topics.”
However, as pointed out, the battle has been going on for months and many people feel they are not listening on the part of the driver. Things like Richards and Reed criticize the governing body’s approach to decision-making.
Ben Slayem’s presence in Bahrain allows the right to respond to the president as he goes deep into the election year, but it certainly is becoming a weekend when off-track politics can threaten to mask on-track competition. And it’s not a good place for FIA or F1 to enter.