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The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has told Formula One drivers to mind their own business after they asked where money from race fines was going and why senior figures had left the governing body.
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In an interview before today’s race, Ben Sulayem suggested the drivers should stick to what they know best.
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“Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us?” Ben Sulayem said when asked about the surprise departure of the race director Niels Wittich before last weekend’s title-deciding Las Vegas Grand Prix. “We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don’t follow someone else’s rule. Simple as this.”
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Wittich has said he did not resign and the FIA have given no public explanation as to why he suddenly left beyond saying it was to pursue new opportunities. Media reports have said he was sacked.
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The Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), said on Thursday drivers wanted clarity and understanding “of what’s going on and who’s getting fired next”.
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Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver who was elected as FIA head in 2021, responded: “Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy? It’s none of their business. Sorry … I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race.”
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The GPDA issued a remarkable statement last month, in response to an FIA clampdown on swearing, in which they asked Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind his own language towards them.
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They also requested financial transparency and said all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly determine how and where the money from fines was spent – with some suggesting it could help fund professional stewards.
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“They talk and then they say, where are you putting the money? Why we don’t do this? I don’t say ‘Oh, sorry, what about you?’” said Ben Sulayem. “The drivers are getting over 100m. Do I ask where they spend it? No. It’s up to them. It’s their right … we do whatever we do with the money. It’s our business. It’s also with them and their money. It’s their business.”
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Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and he had nothing to hide. He said he “lived free of charge” in the brains of critics in the media and did not need them or care what people said. He also rejected any suggestion that the FIA was in crisis and suffering a staff exodus under his leadership.
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Despite his “none of your business” stance, the Emirati said later that €10.3m had been invested in grassroots single-seater racing last year.
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“You really think I would waste the money? This is not commercial. This is the money of the members, and I have been elected to safeguard that,” he said. He added that 64 employees had joined the FIA in 2023 and 92 in 2024. “I have been elected to fix the FIA. and I am fixing it. I am very happy with our new team. Very happy. I inherited an FIA with an operating cost of €23m. And where is it now? This will be the first year that we are plus.” Reuters
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Verstappen shakes hands with Mohamed Ben Sulayem before the Qatar GP”,”caption”:”Max Verstappen shakes hands with Mohamed Ben Sulayem before the Qatar GP “,”Credit”:”Photo: Hamad Mohammed/Reuters”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1733065281000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.01 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1733066145000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”: “10.15 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1733065974000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.12 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.12″,”title”:”Ben Sulayem: “How the FIA is run is none of your business “”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Sunday 1 December 2024 11.21 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Sunday 1 December 2024 10.01 EST”},{“id”:”6748aa388f088c7046fdefd8″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may already be our 2024 Formula One champion but the fight for second in the drivers’ standings and top honors in the constructors’ standings is still very much alive in the second to last race of the season.
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Mercedes’ George Russell will start from pole position in Qatar after Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for impediment during qualifying. In the final laps of qualifying, Verstappen slowed in the third sector, forcing Russell onto gravel.
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Verstappen’s alleged offence was “driving unnecessarily slowly” and after Russell gave his version of events, a decision was communicated more than three hours after the end of the session.
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It wouldn’t be F1 without drama, right?
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Verstappen’s points tally is 404 points. McLaren’s Lando Norris is second with 347 points and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is third with 323 points.
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For constructors, McLaren leads with 623 points. Ferrari is second with 593 points and Red Bull is third with 556 points.
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As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints or jokes you would like to share, then send me an email.
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main events
10/57th lap: Stroll has officially retired. His reinstatement was to ensure that the 10-second penalty did not affect future races.
9/57th lap: Hamilton was officially cited for a false start. Typically this is a 5 second penalty. Replays showed the situation was tough and he apologized on the radio. He is currently in 8th place.
8/57th lap: Alonso is not satisfied. He cursed on the radio saying he had a problem with the straights. His incident has drawn attention because he returned to the track in a dangerous condition. He might be in trouble with that.
7/57th lap: There is a big difference between Verstappen, Norris and Russell. Stroll retired but later returned to racing.
6/57th lap: Lawson spun while trying to evade Bottas. Lawson lost his grip and began to spin.
5/57th lap: Verstappen widens the gap with Norris.
Piastri finished fourth behind Leclerc. McLaren has a great chance of winning the constructors' championship today.
4/57th lap: The safety car is out…there's only half a lap left in the race, but let's get going.
3/57th lap: The safety car is still in operation. There are murmurs on the grid about Hamilton and that he may have made a false start, but nothing official yet.
Huh will contact you via email.
That was weak for Rand. The tables were reversed and Verstappen would naturally have run straight past him and taken the inside at turn one. Too polite.
I myself am still confused as to why he withdrew. Did he feel something in the car or did he expect Verstappen to push him away? It's very strange.
2/57th lap: There is no safety car, but you can see replays of the crash and the top teams in the race.
Norris looked like he was going to move into the lead in Turn 1, but fell back a bit when Verstappen passed him. Stroll had to pit for a tire change.
1/57th lap: Russell starts on the outside line. The track temperature was only 23 degrees, much lower than usual. Verstappen stormed inside the first turn to take the lead, while Norris gained speed and moved into second place. The safety car was brought out after Colapinto and Ocon, but it was Williams' 16th crash of the season. Hulkenberg also had an incident and continued, but the rim flew off his car.
Qatar GP race begins
Off to the formation lap! We are driving around the Lusail International Circuit.
There are only a few minutes left until lights out at Lusail. This is what I heard from the National Anthem performed by the Qatar Academy of Music Choir.
This is the starting grid.
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George Russell – Mercedes
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Max Verstappen – Red Bull
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Lando Norris – McLaren
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Oscar Piastri – McLaren
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Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
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Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
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Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
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Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
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Sergio Perez – Red Bull
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Kevin Magnussen – Haas
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Pierre Gasly – Alpine Renault
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Zhou Guanyu – Sauber
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Valtteri Bottas – Sauber
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Hiroki Tsunoda – RB Honda
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Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
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Alexander Albon – Williams
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Liam Lawson – RB Honda
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Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
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Franco Colapinto – Williams
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Esteban Ocon – Alpine Renault
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports that George Russell was going too fast during the sprint, comparing it to “a football player diving into the penalty box”.
“I'm not sure why it was a first penalty, but if Max needed some extra motivation, this gave it to him. He's done with this. ”
This is the first email of the day! Louise writes:
What do you think about Verstappen's suspension? Both Verstappen and Russell were running “slow” laps. Usually, just before starting a fast lap, you try to get some clean air in front of you. There is another driver in front of Verstappen and you can see that Russell is speeding up. I feel like this wasn't the driver's mistake, but the race engineer's fault for not communicating what happened? Verstappen said he was preparing for a fast lap when he suddenly realized Russell was behind him.
The other driver was Fernando Alonso, and as you said, he was going exactly the same speed. Verstappen kept the same distance on both turns and not only decided to apply the right brake while rounding the corner. Strange for sure and I think that's why they kept the penalty to Verstappen to a minimum. Normally this situation would result in a 3 grid relegation penalty.
McLaren could win its first constructors' championship since 1998 today if it meets the following conditions:
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If Ferrari doesn't win the race, beat Ferrari by 15 points or more or If Ferrari wins the race, they will be 14 points ahead of Ferrari.
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We can't lose to Red Bull by more than 23 points.
A look back at how Verstappen became the 2024 champion.
Max Verstappen told Sky Sports about qualifying and his penalty:
Qualifying was very positive. I feel like my car is running a little better. I hope I can be competitive in the race and fight in front.
We will continue to fight for victory. I've got one back and we'll see how it goes.
Ben Sulayem: “It doesn't matter to you how the FIA is run”
FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem says to mind his own business after F1 drivers ask him where race fines were spent and why government officials have left the board I instructed him to do so.
In today's pre-race interview, Ben Sulayem suggested drivers should stick to what they know best.
“Do we need to tell them? When something changes within the team, will they tell us?” Ben Sulayem told race director Niels before last weekend's title-clinching Las Vegas Grand Prix When asked about Witich's sudden resignation, he said: “We have rules and we follow them. We don't follow other people's rules. It's that simple.”
Witich has said he has not resigned, and the FIA has not officially explained why he abruptly resigned beyond saying it was to pursue new opportunities. According to media reports, he was fired.
Mercedes driver George Russell, director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), said on Thursday that drivers wanted clarity and understanding of “what is going on and who will be sacked next”. .
Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver and elected FIA Director-General in 2021, responded: Are we telling them what their strategy should be? It doesn't matter to them. Sorry…I'm the driver. I respect drivers. Free them up to focus on what they do best: race. ”
The GPDA issued a notable statement last month in response to the FIA's crackdown on abusive language, calling on Ben Sulayem to treat them as adults and be mindful of his language towards them.
It also called for financial transparency, saying all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly decide where and how money from fines is spent, and said there should be no funding for professional stewards. Some suggested it could be useful.
“When they talk, they say, 'Where are you putting your money?'” Why don't they do this? They don't say, “Oh, sorry, what about you?” Ben Sulayem said. “The drivers are over 100 meters. Do you ask them where they spent their money? No, it's up to them. It's their right… We do whatever we want with the money. It's our It's about them and their money.
Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and had nothing to hide. He said he was “living for free” in the brains of media critics, didn't need them and didn't care what people said. He also denied any suggestion that the FIA was in crisis and suffering an exodus of staff under his leadership.
Despite its “none of your business” attitude, the Emirates later said that €10.3 million was invested in grassroots single-seater racing last year.
“You really think I'm going to waste money? This is not commercial. This is members' money and I was elected to protect it,” he said. He added that 64 employees joined the FIA in 2023 and 92 in 2024. “I was elected to improve the FIA. And I am fixing it. I am very happy with our new team. I am very happy. I take over the FIA with an operating cost of 23 million euros. And where are we now? This is the first year we've had a positive result.” Reuters
preamble
Red Bull's Max Verstappen may already be the 2024 F1 champion, but the battle for second place in the drivers' standings and top honors in the constructors' standings is still alive in the penultimate race of the season is being carried out.
Mercedes' George Russell will start from pole position in Qatar after Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty for interfering during qualifying. On the final lap of qualifying, Verstappen slowed down in the third sector, causing Russell to fall into the gravel.
Verstappen's alleged violation was “driving unnecessarily slowly” and the decision came more than three hours after the session ended, after Russell gave his version of the issue.
It wouldn't be F1 without drama, right?
Verstappen now has 404 points. McLaren's Lando Norris is second with 347 points, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third with 323 points.
McLaren leads the constructors with 623 points. Ferrari was second with 593 points, and Red Bull was third with 556 points.
As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints, or jokes you'd like to share, please email me.
