Source: REUTERS/Rula Rouhana
[Saba Sports News] When the vice chairman of the FIA, Robert Reid, suddenly announced his resignation and criticized the “loss of integrity by the FIA leadership,” George Russell, the director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), issued a stern warning before the Bahrain Grand Prix. He pointed out that more than 12 senior FIA officials have resigned in the past two years, and the reform suggestions proposed by the drivers have been systematically ignored. The core of this storm is the leadership crisis of FIA President Ben Sulayem. It is reported that Reid blasted the FIA for deviating from the principles of “transparency and collaboration” in his resignation statement, which is completely contrary to his promise when he assisted Sulayem in taking office in 2021. At the same time, the chairman of the British Motorsport Association, David Richards, was banned from attending meetings because he refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. This confidentiality document is called “Sulayem’s gag order” by insiders. In response, Russell pointed out in an interview that the GPDA has tried many times to participate in decision-making, such as providing suggestions in the controversial revision of the driver behavior code, but the FIA has always turned a deaf ear. According to internal emails, the FIA management has even beautified the confidentiality agreement as a commercial norm, but has avoided discussing Richards’ accusations of “collapse of the governance system.” As the Middle East station schedule unfolds, this power struggle has affected event operations. Last year, there was chaos with temporary changes of event directors in six races.