Carlos Sainz Sr. expresses interest in displacing Mohammad Ben Sulayem as the FIA President
Williams driver Carlos Sainz's father has expressed interest in taking Mohammad Ben Sulayem for the role of the FIA President. The elections for the position are imminent, and the Spaniard has emerged as a complete outsider in the race.
Ever since Ben Sulayem has taken over the role of the FIA President, far too many controversial calls have been made. In 2022, there was a clampdown on driver jewelry, and in one of the more recent cases, the driver swearing ban caught the eye of people.
Carlos Sainz Sr. himself is racing royalty and a motorsport legend in his own right. He is a two-time world rally champion and one of the racing icons in Spain alongside Fernando Alonso.
Confirming his interest, talking to Autosport, Carlos Sainz Sr. alluded to him racing for more than 40 years. He shared that this had been on the back of his mind for some time and backed himself to do a good job. He said, via RacingNews365:
"There are many reasons, but I have been racing for more than 40 years and the sport has given me everything. The possibility of becoming president has been on my mind for a while. Not very concretely, but now I think it could be the right time in my career to take the step. I am confident that I can do a good job and put together an excellent team to give back some of what the sport has given me."
Carlos Sainz did, however, steer clear of making any comments about the management style employed by the incumbent FIA President, Mohammad Ben Sulayem. He said:
"Everyone has their own way of running an organization, their own beliefs about what is best and their own way of understanding the sport and the world of mobility. I think my track record shows that I only know one way of doing things: professionalism, seriousness and straightforwardness. Then it is up to the community to decide. There has obviously been some controversy recently, but I want to focus on myself. I leave the judgement to others."
Carlos Sainz Sr. addresses the potential conflict of interest with his son being an F1 driver
Carlos Sainz Sr. also brushed away the suggestions that his son, being one of the top F1 drivers, is going to be a problem in terms of any potential conflict of interest. He revealed that he would take a step back from the Williams driver's career, as he's been in the sport for a long time anyway, to know how to navigate through it. He said:
"I have a track record and people know me well enough to understand that it won't be a problem. Of course I will have to take a step back in terms of my role with Carlos and his career, but that's not a problem at all. He's not a child anymore, he's been in Formula 1 for ten years now and we both know that our relationship will change if I continue with this project. The FIA is a very serious organisation and there will be no conflict."
The role has been under scrutiny for the last few years because of some of the actions taken by the incumbent. How this move would be received is something that we'll have to see in the near future.