At our regional club we have an election for the competition committee every other year. As a rule there are as many candidates as there are seats to be had. It is not for want of interest. The stipulations were put in place by those in office and they call for endorsements from three member clubs, a spotless license record and an amount of time that a working man simply does not have. We all know it but at the meeting no one will voice it.
The FIA made Mohammed Ben Sulayem its president in December 2021 and in December 2025 re-elected him to the post with no one on the ballot to oppose him. In between is a term that the press has been quick to define by its controversies, which poses a question to any fair reader that goes unaddressed: how does one get from a presidency so hotly disputed to an uncontested election?
Fourteen titles first
| The driving career | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Dubai, 1961 |
| FIA Middle East Rally Championship | 14 titles, a record that still stands |
| Background | Came to the FIA presidency as a competitor rather than a career administrator |
| A first | The first non-European to hold the FIA presidency |
| Elected | December 2021, succeeding Jean Todt after his 12 years in the role |
| Re-elected | December 12, 2025, in Tashkent, unopposed, for a second four-year term |
Career and election details as published by the FIA and contemporary reporting, checked in October 2026.
It is more than sentiment. He was the first non-European to take the FIA presidency and he did so with high level competitive experience rather than having been an administrator from day one, a point of emphasis in 2021. Jean Todt had been running the federation for 12 years. The change of guard could not have come at a worse time for the governing body, being just 5 days on from the Abu Dhabi finale and the international scrutiny it brought to bear on its race direction.
What the job entails
The FIA president is in charge of the body that governs over 240 members in some 150 countries and writes the rules and licenses the officials for both motorsport and road safety. Formula 1 is only one of the championships and makes the most noise. In effect the president is above the race directors and the stewards who judge incidents and those who put the regulations in place. He is not the one making the calls though, and much of the criticism of him is about his distance from the decisions, not the decisions per se.
Flashpoints
| Flashpoint | What happened |
|---|---|
| Jewelry in the cockpit, 2022 | Enforcement of an existing rule, answered by Lewis Hamilton arriving at a Miami press conference wearing as much of it as possible |
| Swearing guidelines, January 2025 | Strengthened rules on language in press conferences and on team radio, with fines attached. The fines were later reduced after objections from the grid |
| Robert Reid, April 2025 | The deputy president for sport resigned, saying decisions were being made behind closed doors and bypassing the structures the FIA exists to represent |
| Statute changes | Changes to the electoral rules and to term limits, which critics say make a challenge harder to mount |
| The 2025 ballot | Tim Mayer and Laura Villars both failed to reach it. A French court ruled on December 3, 2025, that the vote could proceed, and sent the complaint to a full trial, with a first hearing set for February 16, 2026 |
| An eleventh team | The push to open a new grid slot, which became the General Motors-backed Cadillac entry for 2026 |
Documented episodes of the first term. Criticism is attributed here to the people who made it rather than stated as fact.
The FIA in 2022 began enforcing a long-standing prohibition on jewelry in the cockpit. Lewis Hamilton came to a press conference in Miami with as much of it as he could muster. The safety case was sound but the timing of the enforcement was not well put across and it set the tone for the next 3 years.
Then in January 2025 the FIA put teeth into its guidelines on what can be said on the team radio or in a press conference and added fines. The grid put up a public and lengthy objection and the fines were eventually reduced. The dispute was really about consultation and not the language used; that is the crux of most of the complaints from within the building.
An election without opposition
In April 2025 Robert Reid, the deputy president for sport and a world rally champion co-driver, put in his resignation. He was quite open about the fact that decisions were being made behind closed doors in contravention of the very structures the FIA is supposed to stand for. That is the most senior criticism to be put on the record and it came from the number two in the sport.
Procedure was what the 2025 election hinged on. A candidate had to put forward a full slate of seven vice presidents from the World Council’s list with backing from each of the FIA’s six regions. Tim Mayer, a former steward who made his bid at Silverstone, decided a rival ticket could not be put together under those rules and stood down. Laura Villars was not on the ballot either. A French court on December 3, 2025, gave the vote the go ahead while referring the substance of the matter to a full trial with a first hearing on February 16, 2026. By December 12 of that year Ben Sulayem was in Tashkent being confirmed for another four years, the case still pending.
The FIA says the process was in keeping with its statutes and the democratic basis of the federation. For critics like Mayer it was an election done and dusted before it started. Both can be true.
What else the record has
| The other side of the ledger | Detail |
|---|---|
| Finances in 2021 | A loss of 24 million euros |
| Finances in 2024 | An operating profit of 4.7 million euros, which the FIA calls its strongest result in nearly a decade |
| Forecast for 2025 | 4.4 million euros, given at the same meeting |
| The grid | An eleventh entry pushed through against resistance from Formula 1 |
| The FIA on its own election | Conducted in line with the statutes, reflecting the democratic foundations of the federation |
| Tim Mayer on the same election | Over before it began |
Both positions as stated publicly by the parties involved, December 2025.
Those do not negate the governance issues and vice versa. To have a president who can put the books in order and also see his deputy resign in public is a statement of sorts about the organization. How the next four years are viewed will be an argument over which side of the ledger is of more consequence.
Over at my club the committee elections are still unopposed and the ones who write the requirements are the ones in the seats. But nothing turns on it. At the FIA this same setup is what determines who gets to approve a rule or license an official in the sport so a procedural matter over a ballot in Tashkent is hardly that.
Questions about Mohammed Ben Sulayem
Who is the president of the FIA?
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, elected in December 2021 and re-elected unopposed in December 2025 for a second four-year term.
What is Ben Sulayem known for in rallying?
14 FIA Middle East Rally Championship titles, which remains the record for the series.
Why is Ben Sulayem criticized?
Mainly over governance. His deputy president for sport resigned in April 2025 saying decisions were being made behind closed doors, and the electoral rules were described by a would-be challenger as making a rival candidacy impossible to assemble.
Was the 2025 FIA election contested?
Two prospective candidates, Tim Mayer and Laura Villars, failed to reach the ballot. A French court ruled on December 3, 2025, that the vote could go ahead, and Ben Sulayem was confirmed unopposed in Tashkent on December 12. The complaint itself went to a full trial, with a first hearing set for February 16, 2026.
What has the FIA achieved financially under him?
A loss of 24 million euros in 2021 became an operating profit of 4.7 million in 2024, which the federation describes as its strongest result in nearly ten years.
Jake Holloway is a club racer, track-day instructor, and motorsports editor based near Charlotte, North Carolina. He has raced karts, Legends cars, Spec Miatas, and amateur endurance cars, and he writes for GreenyCars about how racing actually works, from the rule book to the pit lane.
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