F1 CEO Domenicali hits back at FIA president Ben Sulayem

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenciali has hit back at FIA chief Mohammed Ben Sulayem insisting there will always be problems if personnel from the sport’s governing body are ‘not doing the right job’. Tensions are high between the F1 and the FIA with the two bodies disagreeing over a number of issues leading to Ben Sulayem stepping back from the day-to-day running of the premier class of motorsport.

Ben Sulayem has irked some of those towards the top of Formula One after a series of tweets expressing his concerns over reported a £16billion bid for the sport that had been rejected by rights holders Liberty Media.

Formula One offered a powerful response at the time, making clear in a letter to the FIA and the sports’ teams that they saw his comments as a significant overreach of his duties. There have also been disagreements over Mario Andretti’s bid to enter the grid as a new manufacturer and Ben Sulayem’s stance on drivers making political statements.

Now, Domenciali has offered his response to the current tension between the Ben Sulayem and Formula One insisting there will always be problems if people are ‘not doing the right job’. He was also keen to stress that both parties must work together with their priority the growth of the sport.

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“With Mohammed Ben Sulayem coming in as a new president last year it was clear that, as normal when there is a new president, there is a manifesto he has to respect because that was his proposition in front of the members that voted him,” he told Sky Sports. “Then there is a need and the time to adjust and assess what the right role is for the FIA in the F1 Championship.

“There’s no secret to say that the key to the success of our sport is to have everyone doing his job, in the right way for the benefit of the growth of the sport.

“Any kind of personalism, any kind of thing that is not helpful to that does not have any need to comment. We all have an interest to make sure the sport is growing. We are all united, if someone is not doing the right job there will be a problem.”

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While the saga has seen Ben Sulayem reduce his role in the running of Formula One, Domenciali has seen the positives as it presented the opportunity to clarify each others’ roles.

“I think that it was important to clarify the role of each of us,” he explained. “I think there’s no other things to comment on because we need to stay focused on what we believe is right for the growth of the sport.

“The value of our sport is growing, we should be all happy because that means that we all are doing a great job.”