MELBOURNE, Australia — With a dark cloud continuing to linger over Formula One in the form of various controversies, team bosses have urged for greater transparency from the FIA.
Motor racing’s governing body has come under fire in recent weeks, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton telling reporters on Thursday that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has “never” had his support.
The president was recently cleared in an internal investigation into a whistleblower allegation, which included race interference at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
F1 Academy boss Susie Wolff has also filed legal action against the federation for its investigation into an allegation of a conflict of interest between her and husband, Toto, who is the boss of the Mercedes F1 team.
The start of F1’s season has been overshadowed by the ongoing controversy surrounding Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who was cleared of misconduct in early March.
The female team employee who accused Horner of inappropriate behaviour has since been suspended.
On those different news stories, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Friday: “All the items that have come to light here in recent times are very serious situations. I think we’re living in 2024 not 1984, which means total transparency.
“I think the three situations are different but all very serious and I think we need to make sure that things are done in a transparent, truly independent manner. I think everyone should welcome transparency.
“I know everyone would like these various topics to enable us to go back to motor racing, but I think until all the unanswered questions are answered people will continue to ask questions.”
Transparency has become the hottest topic in F1 this year.
Red Bull has been under pressure to release more information into Horner’s case, although the racing team’s hands have been tied somewhat by the fact the investigation was carried out by parent company Red Bull GmbH.
The BBC reported that the suspended female employee has asked the FIA to look into the case.
The FIA has also declined to reveal the reasons why whistleblower allegations against Ben Sulayem were dismissed. The independent case into Ben Sulayem featured interviews with 11 witnesses.
The FIA president had been accused of applying pressure on race stewards to overturn a 10-second penalty at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which cost Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso a place on the podium.
The whistleblower in the case also claimed Ben Sulayem had tried to prevent the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit from being certified ahead of its November debut.
“I don’t think it’s a great situation that we’re in, that we’re three races into the calendar and we’re still talking about these issues,” Brown continued on Friday. “There’s not been the level of transparency and we need to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to speak up.
“And, you know, we kind of know what you know as far as what we read and those appeals, etc. So I think it’s important that the FIA as our governing body address this swiftly, transparently and come to the right conclusions whatever those may be.”
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur also called for greater transparency, but perhaps went against the prevailing feeling around F1 when he suggested it is only the media — not people within the sport or its global fanbase — who care about the stories.
“Honestly, the fans, they are not asking me at all about this,” Vasseur said. “The fans, they are speaking about oversteering, about understeering, about competition.
“I think it’s more a matter of the press and so to speak about these cases. I never had a fan or a guest asking me about the court case. And so I think at one stage, perhaps, that we have to be focused on our business.”
A unique insight was also given on Friday in the form of Peter Bayer, the new CEO of Red Bull’s junior team RB.
Bayer joined RB after a long stint at the FIA, most recently as executive director for F1.
Bayer stressed that while transparency is important, it can be tricky for cases like the one involving Ben Sulayem which rely on whistleblowers coming forward under the promise of anonymity.
“They’re quite different cases,” Bayer said. “And having been at the FIA for a couple of years, you know, and being responsible for the motor sport side of the regulator and legislator of motor sport, I think that certainly they are capable because there’s elected people who have roles.
“There is an independent ethics committee. Since when I was there, we established the compliance officer, whistleblowing hotlines and other bits. And I think one thing that we see is the sport has grown massively in a very short amount of time. And a lot of people are asking for transparency.
“I guess we will have to try and understand where we can have transparency, because when it’s about individual topics or complaints coming through a whistleblowing hotline, you have to make sure that there is an absolute guarantee and protection of the people doing whistleblowing.
“I think that when it’s about employment contracts, those are — I think anywhere on the planet — not meant to be to be shared with anyone. So it’s difficult. But I think, you know, as a sport, we have to learn and grow through these processes and hopefully can come back and focus on racing.”
F1’s season continues with the Australian Grand Prix on March 24.
Source: www.espn.com