FIA chief being investigated for ‘interfering with F1 result’ with ‘Ben Sulayem intervening to overturn Alonso penalty’

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for allegedly interfering with an F1 race result.

Ben Sulayem has reportedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

RexMohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for allegedly interfering with an F1 race result[/caption]

ReutersThe overturned penalty meant Fernando Alonso (R) was returned to the podium[/caption]

The allegation was made in a report by an FIA compliance officer to its ethics committee, which was seen by BBC Sport.

Ben Sulayem and the FIA have not responded to a request for comment.

The BBC report said: “BBC Sport has verified the information with several senior figures at high levels in F1 and close to the FIA.

“None would go on the record, but all said they had the same information.”

The claim called by a whistleblower has inferred Ben Sulaymen called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamas bin Isa Al Khalifa – the FIA’s vice president for sport in the Middle East and North Africa – to make clear Alonso’s penalty should be overturned.

During the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Alonso was given a 10-second penalty for work done on his car while he was serving a previous five-second penalty.

The report by the compliance officer said Ben Sulaymen “pretended the stewards to overturn their decision to issue” the penalty to Alonso.

The Italian word “pretendere” means to expect or require.

The ethics committee is expected to take four to six weeks to issue its report.

The penalty under investigation moved Alonso from the third spot behind Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russel to fourth.

Overturning the penalty meant Alonso was reinstated onto the podium.