The FIA backlash continues after yet another rather disgraceful event took place. Two important FIA members were barred from attending a key World Motor Sport Council meeting because they refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), something president Mohammed Ben Sulayem heavily pushed for.
The two figures were Robert Reid and David Richards, the Deputy President of the FIA and the Chairman of Motorsport UK, respectively. The meeting itself was an important one as well, given the fact that the mandatory two-pit stop rule for Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix was made official.
While making attending members sign an NDA makes sense for the sake of confidential items discussed during a meeting, it also makes people question where the FIA’s interests are. In recent months, Ben Sulayem and the FIA have made some questionable decisions, with the most notable being the introduction of fines and other penalties for swearing.
Ben Sulayem’s FIA reign gets worse
If the FIA’s president is okay with two key members being absent from an important meeting, one might question what their value is to the process as a whole.
While some details deserve to be kept a secret, refusing transparency and withholding information from the general public entirely is why the FIA receives so much backlash to begin with.
Ben Sulayem seems to be doing more and more to make the general public dislike him, given how his tenure has gone thus far. When the Emirati president briefly hinted at a return of V10 engines, many fans were quite elated that he had finally decided to do something beneficial and meaningful for Formula 1.
There is potential for things to get even worse in terms of Ben Sulayem’s motives for Formula 1 this season. But with the FIA president up for re-election later this year, odds are he may lose his role if he continues acting the way he has been. Perhaps if he is more receptive to the drivers, teams, and fans, he just might have a chance to spend another four years as the FIA’s president.