It has been reported that the FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, is being investigated for potentially manipulating the outcome of a Formula One race.

As reported by the BBC, Paolo Basarri, the compliance officer for the governing body of motorsports, submitted a report to the ethics committee alleging that Ben Sulayem intervened to reverse a 10-second penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

According to a report by the BBC, a person who exposed wrongdoing has stated that Ben Sulayem contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Isa al-Khalifa, the FIA’s vice-president for sport in the Middle East, while the sheikh was attending the race in Saudi Arabia in an official role.

Ben Sulayem allegedly made it clear to Sheikh Abdullah bin Isa that he thought Alonso’s penalty should be revoked. Ben Sulayem and the FIA have not responded to requests for comment from the BBC.

Alonso’s 10-second penalty, which was given for work being done on his car while he was still serving a previous five-second punishment, was reversed. This resulted in him regaining his position on the podium, now behind Red Bull racers Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen, with Pérez taking first place. Prior to the penalty being lifted, Alonso had been in fourth place.

There was no indication initially that there was anything suspicious about the decision, which was made after Aston Martin’s sporting director, Andy Stevenson, presented the team’s argument to the stewards in a right of review procedure. If Alonso’s 10-second penalty had been upheld, Mercedes driver George Russell would have advanced to third place.

Source: theguardian.com