Formula 1: Drivers united on course: dispute over the F-word with the FIA ​​boss

As a polite Brit, George Russell took a moment before answering – and then made it very clear how frustrated the Formula 1 drivers are with the president of the world motorsport association. “There are some drivers who are fed up with the situation and to a certain extent it just seems to be going in the wrong direction,” said the Mercedes driver in the direction of Fia at his first compulsory meeting before the Grand Prix in Las Vegas -President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. For almost half of his time speaking at the press conference, Russell did not talk about the upcoming nighttime spectacle in the gambling metropolis, but rather about the man who has few, if any, friends in the paddock. It’s bubbling.

There is a new race director with three races to go

Because just before the race in which Max Verstappen can win the world championship title for the fourth time in a row, the world association replaced the race director. The German Niels Wittich is gone, Rui Marques has to take over for the last three Grand Prix of the season. “That’s not ideal, especially so close to the end of the season,” said future Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg. “I think he did a good job, he was straight with us. I don’t know the background, the reasons. It was a surprise for most people in the paddock.”

That’s exactly what Russell complained about. The unexpected and unannounced separation from Wittich is a “prime example of the fact that we are not involved in these discussions,” said the 26-year-old Brit, who, as a manager of the drivers’ association, would like to have a constructive exchange with Ben Sulayem. While a meeting isn’t difficult to get, “getting changes and promises fulfilled seems to be more challenging. Maybe the FIA ​​or the President didn’t realize how serious we are,” said Russell.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen put it a little more drastically and longed for the times when Charlie Whiting, who died in 2019, was still the master of penalties and announcements in Formula 1. “It was a sense of community. Now it feels more like us versus them.” World Cup runner-up Lando Norris said when saying goodbye to Wittich: “Things are obviously not going as smoothly as we would like.”

The drivers’ anger has long been evident

The fact that the drivers are fed up became impossible to ignore two weeks ago at the latest: They opened an Instagram account specifically to express their dissatisfaction in an open letter via this channel. The starting point was a press conference in which world champion and World Cup leader Verstappen used the English F-word to describe his car in qualifying in Azerbaijan.

“When we went into qualifying, I knew immediately that the car was ‘fucked’,” he said at the subsequent Grand Prix in Singapore – and was promptly sentenced to community service. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fined 10,000 euros – half suspended – in São Paulo for using the F-word.

In the open letter, the drivers now stated: “We call on the FIA ​​President to maintain his tone and to pay attention to his own language when he speaks to or about the drivers, whether in public or elsewhere. The drivers are adults. They don’t need instructions about the press, about banalities like wearing jewelry or underwear.” The FIA ​​has not yet responded to the letter.

Fia has so far had no response to the driver’s letter

“I’m a little surprised about it, maybe there’s something else to come,” Russell said. As a driver representative, he is not only concerned with manners, but also with the question of what happens to the fines. The FIA ​​had promised to invest in basic sport – to the displeasure of the Formula 1 stars, there is no transparent evidence of this.

The conflict with the drivers is not the only one in Ben Sulayem’s less than four years in office. FIA investigations against Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and his wife Susie, who is the head of the women’s racing series F1 Academy, caused a stir last December for alleged betrayal of secrets. Just two days after it became known, the world association had to stop the matter again. All the other teams had protested.

Ben Sulayem has a long list of confrontations

Ben Sulayem’s list of confrontational maneuvers is longer anyway. Be it as an advocate for the Andretti team, which wanted and wants to get into Formula 1, but was rejected by the commercial owners, or as someone who expressed doubts about the value of Formula 1. The racing series’ lawyers then pointed out to him that this was not part of his duties.

The 63-year-old former rally driver Ben Sulayem has been the highest official of the Fédération Internationale d’Automobile since 2021 and actually wants to be re-elected in 2025. He shouldn’t count on public support from the drivers.