Formula 1: FIA clears its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over race interference claims
- Published
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been FIA president since December 2021
Formula 1's governing body has cleared its president of claims he interfered with races in Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas last season.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem was alleged to have intervened to overturn a penalty for Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A whistleblower claimed the president told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for last year's race.
The FIA said there was no evidence to support the claims.
"Concerns over potential interference were brought to the attention of the FIA Compliance Officer and subsequently passed to the FIA Ethics Committee," said the FIA in a statement.
"After reviewing the results of the inquiries, the Ethics Committee were unanimous in their determination that there was no evidence to substantiate allegations of interference of any kind involving the FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem."
A "robust and wide-ranging independent review" spanning 30 days, and interviewing 11 witnesses was conducted, the FIA added. which cleared Ben Sulayem "of any wrongdoing".
"The president showed complete co-operation, transparency, and compliance throughout the process during this investigation was greatly appreciated," it said.