FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to step away from day-to-day involvements in letter to F1 team bosses

The FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has stepped back from the day-to-day running of Formula 1 ahead of the new season I “My stated objective was to be a non-executive president via the recruitment of a team of professional managers, which has now been largely completed”

President of FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem will only concentrate on ‘strategic matters’ going forward

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has sent a letter to F1 team bosses in which he has decided to relinquish the hands-on running of the governing body.

Sulayem, who was elected the president of F1’s governing body in December 2021, and quickly outlined a plan to restructure the FIA’s F1 operations.

But the 61-year-old Emirati will now only concentrate on “strategic matters” going forward, with director of single-seater racing Nikolas Tombazis taking over the “day-to-day” running.

Sky Sports News understands multiple figures from FIA’s world motorsport council, many of them heads of national associations – raised concerns with Sulayem and offered advice after recent controversies.

The FIA have said this move was already planned as “the natural next step”.

In a letter to the 10 teams, he said: “My stated objective was to be a non-executive president via the recruitment of a team of professional managers, which has now been largely completed.

“Therefore, going forward, your day-to-day contact for all matters on F1 will be with Nikolas (Tombazis, director of single-seater racing) and his team, while I will focus on strategic matters with my leadership team.”

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Sulayem took a centre-stage approach throughout the 2022 season and regularly made podium appearances and engaged with drivers on the grid.

The FIA statement read: “The president’s manifesto clearly set out this plan before he was elected – it pledged “the appointment of an FIA CEO to provide an integrated and aligned operation,” as well as to “introduce a revised governance framework” under “a leadership team focused on transparency, democracy, and growth.”

“These goals, as well as the announcement of the new structure of the single-seater department, have been planned since the beginning of this presidency.

“The FIA president has a wide remit that covers the breadth of global motor sport and mobility, and now that the structural reorganisation in Formula 1 is complete, this is a natural next step.”