DPA
Berlin
The widely criticized president of motorsports ruling body FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, claimed that the British media bias “convicted me” and that he hasn’t been treated fairly during his term.
“They didn’t accuse me [of anything], but they keep on [going]. And do I care? No. Why? Because what are they after? They are after selling and getting more coverage for them[selves]. But they have no power over me and over the FIA,” he told motorsports news portal Autorsport in an interview published on Thursday.
His comments come in the wake of Adrian Newey’s appearance on the “High Performance” podcast, in which the car designer remarked that both three-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and ex-Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel have been unfairly treated by the British media.
“I respect Max [Verstappen] because I’m a driver. I was a champion and I respect winners and champions,” Ben Sulayem said.
“I see he had his share [of mistreatment], but let’s talk about me. If you look at the British media and what they did to me.
“For God’s sake, they convicted me.” Ben Sulayem became the successor to Jean Todt in 2021 and is seeking re-election next year. His time in office has been marked by a troubled relationship with the F1 management.
He has been repeatedly criticized for his one-sided actions and has also been accused of misogyny.
Recently, he was criticized for his comments over the tone of the content that is aired to fans during the race weekend. Ben Sulayem said that “we have to differentiate between our sport - motorsport - and rap music.” “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are (us),” he said.
His statements were criticized by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who pointed to a “racial element.”
