Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been elected as the new International Automobile Federation President replacing Jean Todt.
The FIA confirmed the news on Friday after an election was held and the former rally driver from Dubai emerged as the winner after standing against FIA’s vice president Graham Stocker.
Jean Todt will be retiring from the seat after serving three terms in the office. Mohammed Ben Sulayem will be the first non-European federation president. Graham Stocker who is a British lawyer was beaten in the race for the seat despite serving as the vice president for 11 years since 2009.
The FIA serves as the governing body for Formula 1, Formula E, World Endurance Championship(WEC) and World Rally Championship(WRC) among other motorsports championships.
“The votes are in and we’ve won. We are thrilled that 62% of all clubs have given us their vote,” a tweet read from Ben Sulayem’s campaign on Twitter dubbed ‘FIA for Members’.
With Mohammed Ben Sulayem taking the top seat in FIA, Formula 1 will be one of his top priorities after a rather controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Season finale. The race received a lot of criticism after a controversial final lap safety car procedure changed the outcome of the championship title after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race claiming the Drivers Championship title.
Mercedes protested the race win but got dismissed by the Race Stewards later, with the team boss Toto Wolff saying Lewis Hamilton was ‘robbed’ of his record breaking eighth championship title. FIA Race Director Michael Masi received a lot of criticism after the controversial safety car directive.
FIA promised to look into the issue which is said to be ‘tarnishing’ its name and also clarify the rules and regulations in regards to the sport.
Mohammed Ben Sulayen was previously a member of the World Motor Sport Council and also served as FIA’s vice president. The 60-yea old will be deputised by Robert Reid who was formerly a co-driver to the late WRC champion Richard Burns.
Bernie Ecclestone’s wife Fabianna will be the vice president in South America.
