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McLaren co-founder Teddy Mayer’s son, Tim Mayer, has reportedly come out as the primary challenger to Mohammed Ben Sulayem for the FIA Presidential elections set to be held at the end of 2025. Carlos Sainz Sr. was reported as the other name before the rally veteran expressed his wish not to run for the position.
The FIA is a governing body for multiple motorsports, including F1. Every four years, the FIA Presidential elections take place at the General Assembly, which is the decision-making body of the FIA. Ben Sulayem was elected as the FIA President at the end of the 2021 season, and the next elections will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on December 12, 2025.
According to the reports from BBC, Tim Mayer might announce his candidature for the upcoming FIA Presidential elections tomorrow, i.e., Friday, July 4, 2025, ahead of the British Grand Prix race weekend. Reports also suggest that Tim might host a news conference near Silverstone to make the announcement.
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Much like any political election, the person standing for the FIA Presidential seat is required to have a full team of officials to fill in the required roles, if elected. Following Tim Mayer’s announcement, his candidature would be looked into by the FIA nominations committee, which will report to Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Tim is a former FIA official who was sacked by Mohammed Ben Sulayem in 2024 following the track evasion incident at COTA (Circuit of the Americas). He has previously worked with organizations such as IMSA and the American Open Wheel Racing Series Champ Car before he joined the FIA.
The 59-year-old was one of the most respected and senior officials in FIA and stewarded F1 races for 15 years before he was sacked by Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The FIA President came under scrutiny for the sacking, which came only a few weeks after the firing of F1 race director Niels Wittich and compliance officer Paolo Basarri.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem defended F1 Stewards as FIA guidelines documents were made publicly available
FIA and Mohammed Ben Sulayem came under a lot of criticism following the penalties awarded by the stewards in recent races, including Max Verstappen's crash with George Russell at the Spanish GP, and the Mercedes driver's erratic driving under safety car at the Canadian GP.
Following the Canadian GP race weekend, FIA publicly released the 2025 F1 Penalty Guidelines and F1 Driving Standard Guidelines documents. Amid this, Mohammed Ben Sulayem came out and defended the F1 stewards for the recent criticism, as he said:
“FIA Stewards perform a hugely complex task, not just in Formula 1 but across all of our championships, and they do this voluntarily, with great passion and commitment. That dedication is all too often met with extreme and wholly unwarranted criticism.
“To demonstrate the rigour with which they pursue their role, we are today publishing the Penalty and Driving Standards Guidelines that assist them with their decisions,” he added.
George Russell, who is one of the leaders of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers' Association), came out and hailed the step by the FIA, suggesting it'll lead to greater transparency.
