Mohammed Ben Sulayem

Mohammed Ben Sulayem
President ofFédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 December 2021
Preceded by	Jean Todt
Personal details
Born	(1961-11-12)12 November 1961 Dubai,Trucial States(nowUnited Arab Emirates)
Nationality	Emirati
World Rally Championshiprecord Active years 1988,1990–1995 Co-driver Ronan Morgan Teams Toyota,Ford Rallies 23 Championships 0 Rally wins 0 Podiums 0 Stage wins 0 Total points 12 First rally 1988Acropolis Rally Last rally 1995Rally Australia Middle East Rally Championship Years active 1983–2002 Teams Ford,Toyota Championship titles 14 XMiddle East Rally Championship

Mohammed Ahmad Sultan Ben Sulayem(Arabic:محمد بن سليم;born 12 November 1961) is anEmiratiformer rally driver and current president of theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile(FIA), the governing body of many auto racing events includingFormula One.

He is a former rally driver, and one of the most successfulMiddle East Rally Championshipdrivers, winning 14 titles. In 2005, he became the President of theEmirates Motorsports Organization,the representative of theUnited Arab Emiratesin the FIA. In 2008, he was elected as a Vice President for sport and a member of theFIA World Motor Sport Council.He was key to organizing the firstAbu Dhabi Grand Prixin 2009. In 2012, he was among the founding members and chairman of FIA sub-region of Arab Council of Touring and Automobile Clubs. In December 2021, he was appointed as FIA President, succeedingJean Todt.

Early life and education

Sulayem was born on 12 November 1961 inDubai,Trucial States(nowUnited Arab Emirates). He studied business at theAmerican UniversityinWashington, D.C.where he graduated with abachelor's degree.

Personal life

Sulayem is a prominent car collector and owns multiplesupercarsincludingKoenigsegg Agera RS,Koenigsegg Regera,Koenigsegg ChimeraMercedes-Benz,Ferrari,Porsche,McLaren,Bugatti,Jaguar,Lexus,Ford GT,LamborghiniandRolls-Royce.

In July 2012, he was awarded thehonorary degreeof Doctor of Science from the University of Ulster in recognition of his services to sport, civic leadership and charity.

On 7 March 2023, one of Ben Sulayem's sons, Saif Ben Sulayem, died in a road accident in Dubai.

Racing career

Ben Sulayem competed in theMiddle East Rally Championshipdriving forToyotaandFord.He won his first title in 1986 with aToyota Celicaand went on to win six consecutive titles till 1991.In 1994, He won his seventh title with aFord Escort RS Cosworth.From 1996 to 2002, Ben Sulayem won a further seven titles withFord,making the most successful driver in the championship with over 60 wins and 14 titles (both the records have since been broken byNasser Al-Attiyah).

Administrative career

In 2005, he became the President of theEmirates Motorsports Organization,the representative of theUAEin FIA.In 2008, he was elected as a Vice President for sport and a member of theFIA World Motor Sport Council,and he was key to organizing the firstAbu Dhabi Grand Prixin 2009.In 2012, he was among the founding members and chairman of FIA sub-region of Arab Council of Touring and Automobile Clubs.

In June 2013, he was appointed as the chairman of the new Motor Sport Development Task Force set up by the FIA to build a ten-year plan for the sport's global development.In December 2021, he was appointed as the FIA President succeedingJean Todt.

Honors

• 14 XMiddle East Rally Championship(1986-91, 1994, 1996-2002)

Individual

Individual honors won include:

• Medal of Honour,KingHussein of Jordan(1986)
• President’s Cup,PresidentAmine GemayelofLebanon(1987)
• Medal of Honour,PresidentEmile LahoudofLebanon(1999)
• Medal of Honour,KingAbdullah of Jordan(1999)
• Medal of Honour,KingHamad bin Isa al-KhalifaofBahrain(2004)
• UAE Sportsman of the Century,Agence France-Presse(AFP)

Controversies

In 2009, during a promotional event forRenault F1 teamin Dubai, Ben Sulayem crashed aRenault R28Formula One car in a race against aFord GT.

In 2022, Ben Sulayem, as FIA President, oversaw the investigation into the controversial ending of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The race ended with a last lap shootout when the Race Director (Michael Masi) brought in the safety car on the same lap as allowing lapped cars to unlap themselves. This breaches F1 regulations, which require the safety car to stay out for an additional lap after unlapping lapped cars. Had the regulations been applied correctly, the race would have ended under safety car conditions with no overtaking allowed on the final lap. The investigation concluded that whilst the safety car did not stay out for the additional lap, "as required by article 48.12", the result was legitimised because, as Mercedes AMG did not appeal, there was "no available mechanism to change the classification".The investigation failed to report that the FIA President has the power under Judicial & Disciplinary article 9.1.1.d to refer the controversial ending to the FIA International Court of Appeal (ICA) for them to decide whether the result was legitimate. The ICA have the power to change race classifications should they deem that regulations were infringed.This option is available until March 2027, 5 years after the report was published, in accordance with the statute of limitation defined in the F1 Sporting Regulations.

Ben Sulayem allegedly told FIA officials to declare the Las Vegas circuit unsafe for racing and not certify theLas Vegas Grand Prixcircuit for its 2023 race. Ben Sulayem is also under investigation for allegedly attempting to intervene in the results of the 2023Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.On 5 March 2024 the FIA confirmed itscompliance officerhas received two whistleblower complaints.

In January 2023,The Timesnewspaper resurfaced comments Ben Sulayem made on his now archived website in 2001. The newspaper quoted Sulayem as saying he did not like "women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth". The veracity of the quotes was not refuted by Sulayem, but the FIA defended him saying "the remarks in this archived website from 2001 do not reflect the president's beliefs".

Racing record

Complete WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	WDC	Points
1988	Marlboro Middle East Rally Team	Ford Sierra RS Cosworth	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC Ret	USA	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR		NC	0
1990	Winston Toyota Team Middle East	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR			NC	0
1991	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG 7	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR	40th	4
1992	Marlboro Team Ford	Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4X4	MON	SWE	POR 20	KEN	FRA	GRC Ret	NZL Ret	ARG	FIN	AUS 14	ITA Ret	CIV	ESP 9	GBR	58th	2
1993	Marlboro Team Ford	Ford Escort RS Cosworth	MON	SWE Ret	POR Ret	KEN	FRA	GRC Ret	ARG 6	NZL	FIN	AUS	ITA 17	ESP Ret	GBR		31st	6
1994	Marlboro Team Ford	Ford Escort RS Cosworth	MON	POR Ret	KEN	FRA 21	GRC Ret	ARG	NZL	FIN	ITA	GBR					NC	0
1995	Marlboro Toyota Grifone	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205	MON	SWE 26	POR Ret	FRA 21	NZL Ret	AUS Ret	ESP	GBR							NC	0

External links

• Mohammed Ben Sulayem
• Ben Sulayem Performance