Mohammed Ben Sulayem effectively renewed as FIA president as surprising election details emerge

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, along with three other candidates, were looking on to the December 12 vote for the FIA presidency. However, the rules surrounding the presidential list have all but assured that the Emirati's reign will continue at the helm of the governing body.

Ben Sulayem took over the FIA presidency in 2021, succeeding Jean Todt. Since then, he has made varied decisions, which have often been viewed with grim eyes in the F1 paddock.

On the other hand, with his current tenure ending this year, the incumbent office holder has contested for a second term as the FIA president, with other rivals including Tim Mayer.

While the candidates are gearing up to file their candidacies with the FIA, a plot twist has seemingly guaranteed that Ben Sulayem will retain his position. Each presidential candidate has to fill a presidential list, in which they have to elect a president of the senate, the deputy president for automobile mobility and tourism, the deputy president for sport, and seven vice-presidents for sport from various regions.

The major issue that would curtail Sulayem's rivals lies in the vice-president section. The seven vice presidents are required to be selected from a myriad of regions: one each from North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and the remaining two from Europe.

However, no candidate can file for anyone according to their wish, as FIA provides a list of eligible candidates for the spots in the World Motor Sport Council. The governing body recently released the 29 eligible members, and all the presidential candidates have to choose from the available options.

That's where the turning point lies, as only a solitary WMSC candidate for the vice-president spot is selected from the South America region; Fabiana Ecclestone from Brazil. Moreover, she has already affirmed her support for Sulayem.

With no two presidential lists being allowed to share the same member on each other's lists, this would make Mohammed Ben Sulayem's rivals' presidential lists incomplete. Thus, making their candidacies invalid.

So, the 63-year-old could go unopposed for the vote in December, assuring his reign over the FIA for another term.

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem reveals his first thoughts after he had become the FIA President

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the F1 British Grand Prix 2025 race weekend - Source: Getty

Handling the FIA is already an arduous task. Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been executing it for around four years now. During this time, he has witnessed multiple changes in how the work gets done in the governing body and has taken several matters into his own hands to resolve the issues that bugged him.

Reflecting on his first experience when he had initially taken the office, he told The Race:

"I was blocked, my hand. We need to improve their way of dealing with the people. The first day, the first time I go there, I felt that the staff were working for the promoters, not for the members. Members were not allowed to come in the office. And now they can go, and they see smiling people. For us to get there, it was not an on/off switch. You go. It's a process. It's a trust. It is training people, and waiting for them."

"But maybe they don't want that style. They go and they want to change or they want to leave. It's up to them. We don't want first people to stay or to go out. We just give tasks, and we expect them, as long as they take the money of the members, to deliver. It's as simple as this."

If Mohammed Ben Sulayem wins the December FIA elections or remains unopposed, he would remain in the office until 2029, assuming no mid-term resignation or impeachment.