On Thursday, it was announced that two more FIA executives have been forced to step down. Following the departure of race director Niels Wittich, among others, the exodus continues. Steward Tim Mayer, after a tenure of fifteen years, was also dismissed. In the media, Mayer criticizes FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, accusing him of personally interfering with the regulations within Formula 1.
“(The FIA) is making it very difficult for itself – soon they will literally have no one left to do all the work,” Mayer responded to the BBC after his dismissal. “It does not reflect well on the board when you fire someone via a text message, especially when the federation relies on volunteers.” The American also expressed strong criticism of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, whose personal beliefs, according to him, are increasingly influencing the rules within Formula 1.
For instance, Max Verstappen was given a community service penalty for using the word ‘fucked‘ during a press conference. Not long after, Charles Leclerc received a monetary fine for a similar offense. According to Mayer, these penalties were directly derived from Sulayem’s beliefs. “He (Sulayem) believes that drivers should be punished if they swear,” Mayer said. “Recent events confirm that.”
Allegations of Misuse of Power
According to Mayer, the FIA president has been abusing his power in recent months. “There have been times when he wanted to be directly involved and push through his own opinion. He did this not through the stewards, but through his own staff. And this, while it is precisely the task of the stewards to ensure that the rules are adhered to. Technically, of course, swearing is not allowed, but I wonder if we should punish drivers for a few expletives,” he said.
Mayer finally stated that he agrees with Max Verstappen – when English is not your first language, you view certain swear words differently. “For most drivers, English is their second, third, or even fourth language,” the former steward explained. “Moreover, the F-word is about the first English word that young children learn when they get into a kart. Therefore, I think we should handle this differently in the future. We can’t just flex our muscles,” he concluded his criticism.
