May 16 (GMM) Formula 1 drivers admit they are excited at the prospect of a management change right at the top of the sport.
Highly controversial FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem looks set to be challenged in December’s presidential elections – by none other than Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s rallying legend father, 63-year-old Carlos Sainz.
“Obviously I’m biased,” Sainz, 30, smiled to Spanish reporters at Imola. “But if there’s anyone who can take the politics out of this, it’s my father. “He’s guided by common sense.”
As a collective, the F1 drivers have been enraged by the extreme driver behaviour guidelines overseen by Ben Sulayem – including draconian penalties for things like swearing.
Ben Sulayem has now wound back the severity of the ‘Appendix B’ rules.
George Russell, co-director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, admits he thinks the change could be “strategic timing” on Ben Sulayem’s part, given the Sainz rumours.
As for the less-harsh driver penalties, the Mercedes driver insisted: “We’re not going to be saying thank you for something that was so crazy in the first place.
“You know, we shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
Russell even denies the FIA president’s claim that he consulted extensively with the drivers about the change. “We’ve had no correspondence with anyone from the senior level at the FIA,” said the Briton.
“So yeah, it’s all a bit suspect.”
Some even think the new appointment of Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony with a senior position at the FIA young driver program is a move by Ben Sulayem to appease his critics.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton himself, however, said at Imola that Ben Sulayem’s original driver guidelines were “ridiculous”.
“It seems a bit of a mess there at the moment,” added the Ferrari driver. “There are lots of changes that are needed, for sure.”
Max Verstappen famously did FIA community service over the winter for saying “f*ck” in a press conference, so when asked for his opinion about whether Sainz would make a better president, he answered: “You can fill that in for yourself.
“Of course people say it’s conflicting with his son but I think he’s professional enough to keep that separated from each other,” the Dutchman added.
“I think it would be a great addition to run for president.”
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