American Tim Mayer and Swiss Laura Villars had each declared an intention to face within the election however have been unable to place collectively the required slate of potential vice-presidents.
FIA election guidelines dictate that each candidate should identify one individual from all of the FIA international areas. However there was just one South American on the official checklist, and Brazilian Fabiana Ecclestone – spouse of former F1 boss Bernie – was already on Ben Sulayem’s workforce.
The election is dealing with an ongoing authorized problem in France introduced by Villars. A primary listening to into the deserves of the motion is scheduled to be heard on 16 February.
The FIA, at the side of industrial rights holder F1, can also be dealing with a authorized motion from former F1 driver Felipe Massa, who’s seeking damages over the ‘crashgate’ scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Ben Sulayem’s first time period in workplace was marked by a collection of controversies relating to governance, and a number of departures of senior figures after clashes with the president.
Opponents accused him of creating adjustments that undermined the independence of various governance structures within the FIA.
A press release by the FIA following Ben Sulayem’s election mentioned his first time period had marked “a wide-ranging transformation, bettering governance, operations and restoring the monetary well being of the federation”.
It additionally referred to “wider institutional reform reform over the past 4 years, with strengthened budgetary self-discipline, enhanced exterior audit processes and modernised governance constructions, leading to better transparency, accountability {and professional} requirements throughout the organisation”.
Ben Sulayem mentioned in a press release: “This 12 months has marked a pivotal second for the FIA. In 2025, we accomplished an historic monetary turnaround, we secured a stronger way forward for all FIA World Championships, and we continued to ship safer, extra sustainable, and extra reasonably priced mobility worldwide.”
He has additionally been named because the chairman of the FIA Basis, which is an impartial UK-registered charity.
An FIA spokesperson mentioned they have been unable to touch upon the Basis.
