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The president of the FIA is under investigation for allegedly interfering in the outcome of a Formula One race.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the man in charge of motorsport’s governing body, allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Ben Sulayem (right) is under investigation for alleged interference in a race result last yearCredit: Getty
The Aston Martin driver was third in the race when he was given a five-second penalty.
He was then handed a further ten-second penalty for work being done on his car, before Ben Sulayem intervened.
It’s alleged that Ben Sulayem contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa – the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, who was in Saudi Arabia for the race in an official capacity – to make it clear that Alonso’s penalty should be revoked.
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While the ten-second penalty saw Alonso drop to P4 and behind Mercedes’ George Russell, the revoked punishment meant that the Aston Martin star returned to P3.
As a result the 42-year-old secured the 100th podium finish of his career, finishing behind Max Verstappen and race winner Sergio Perez as Red Bull secured a one-two finish.
Alonso secured 15 points for his P3 finish, three more than the 12 he would have received in P4.
This also had ramifications in the end-of-season results, with Alonso finishing the season in joint-fourth place in the 2023 Drivers’ Championship standings.
