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FIA bans drivers from making ‘political statements’ without permission

Edited as it 'seems' this was already the case.

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FIA bans drivers from making ‘political statements’ without permission

Formula 1 drivers and other participants in FIA events have been banned from making “political statements” without the permission of the governing body.

The clampdown has been defined in an update to the International Sporting Code, the rules which govern all series run by the FIA.

The FIA has banned “the general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its Statutes, unless previously approved in writing by the FIA for International Competitions, or by the relevant ASN for National Competitions within their jurisdiction.”

Competitors are also advised that “failure to comply with the instructions of the FIA regarding the appointment and participation of persons during official ceremonies at any Competition counting towards a FIA Championship” will now be considered a breach of the regulations.

The FIA has previously taken steps to prevent F1 drivers from using the attention races attract to highlight causes which concern them. Drivers were prevented from wearing T-shirts during the podium ceremony after Lewis Hamilton displayed one bearing the message “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” after winning the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix.

 

Other drivers have made political statements using their race wear. Sebastian Vettel was criticised by Canadian politicians when he wore a helmet featuring the messages “Stop mining tar sands” and “Canada’s climate crime” at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this year. He did not wear the design for the grand prix.

Earlier this year FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who replaced Jean Todt in the role 12 months ago, contrasted Hamilton and Vettel’s outspoken stance on social issues with that of past drivers. Ben Sulayem held up likes of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, who he said “only cared about driving” as examples.

“Now, Vettel drives a rainbow bicycle, Lewis [Hamilton] is passionate about human rights and [Lando] Norris addresses mental health,” said Ben Sulayem. “Everybody has the right to think. To me, it is about deciding whether we should impose our believes [sic] in something over the sport all the time.” He later issued a statement stressing his commitment to diversity and inclusion.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Andretti and Cadillac joining forces in a bid to join F1.

Interesting that Ben Sulayem has publically welcomed the bid so early on. You'd think he's in favour of it then ...

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Andretti Global and General Motors’ Cadillac brand have teamed up in their pursuit to join Formula One in the coming years.

Earlier this week, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem revealed that he had a discussion with the governing body about starting the process of allowing new teams to join the Formula One grid. Soon after, Andretti Global confirmed their collaboration with General MotorsCadillac in their bid to bring an “all-Americanteam to the premier series. The ‘Andretti Cadillac’ team is planning to submit an official Expression of Interest when the FIA opens up the formal process. 

 

 

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And this from Gary Anderson as a warning.

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What worries Gary Anderson about Cadillac’s F1 plan

I have been around Formula 1, and motorsport in general, for over 50 years and during that time I have seen many teams come and go. Some have been successful, but unfortunately a high percentage fail.

Andretti and the General Motors/Cadillac project is the latest to throw its hat into the ring.

In terms of expectations, works teams are probably the worst. I classify a works team as an automotive manufacturer that produces its own engine, or as we should now call it power unit, and chassis. The most consistent example during my time in F1 is Ferrari – it has been there throughout, always making its own car and engines. Still it battles on.

My most direct involvement in a works team was Jaguar, which was then owned by Ford Motor Company, which also owned our engine supplier Cosworth. The benefit of being a fully-fledged works team is that you can work together to integrate the engine with the chassis, but this didn’t really work with Cosworth. We were still treated like a customer team, getting what it gave us and having to make do. Cosworth was 100% backed by Ford in this.

Anything Cosworth did was magic, whereas anything we did as a chassis manufacturer was inadequate. When you can’t even say that one engine is a little down on power compared to another and that’s why the top speed of the cars is different, it makes things very difficult.

Ford’s management was also very confident in its own engineering abilities. One of its top brass came into one of our engineering meetings and his first comment was “if you don’t do it the Ford way, we will find someone else that will”. How’s that for motivation?

As far as it was concerned, we should integrate as much as possible with its engineering prowess. Any time we did this, it took months instead of days to get any information and when it came it was the size of a phone book. The philosophy was that ‘x’ time of research equalled ‘x’ weight of report. I didn’t have time to digest what we’d get sent, I just needed a one-page overview to give us information.

Much more in the linkypoo.

 

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Red Bull did a showrun on the North Quays of the Liffey over the weekend so I went along. It was good fun. Bloody cold though so once David Coulthard was done ruining my ears I was happy to be home.

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Ooh juicy *rubs hands*

Clickety linkings

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F1’s severe response means Ben Sulayem has crossed a line

Tensions between Formula 1 and the FIA have escalated in a severe and slightly absurd manner with an extraordinary letter sent to the governing body, after remarks made by president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Twitter.

On Monday, Ben Sulayem shared a multi-part statement on the social media platform in which he appeared to respond to a news report claiming Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had considered trying to buy F1 for around $20billion.

The article was not responded to by F1, its owner Liberty Media or the PIF, its accuracy has been questioned by senior figures in the championship, and it is understood that Ben Sulayem did not query it with anyone at F1 himself.

However, the FIA president wanted to address it having been asked about the matter at the Monte Carlo Rally the previous day. In the tweets, he referred to an “alleged inflated price tag” and “advised” any potential bidder for F1 to do so with “a clear, sustainable plan – not just a lot of money”.

That has been met with surprise, confusion and a degree of anger in F1. Stakeholders believe that Ben Sulayem crossed a line, which sparked the extremely unusual action of a letter to the FIA Executive and the World Motor Sport Council – signed by Sacha Woodward Hill and Renee Wilm, the chief legal officers of F1 and its owner Liberty Media respectively.

The contents of the letter, revealed by Sky and the BBC and verified by The Race, include a reference to the president’s comments interfering with F1’s commercial rights holder “in an unacceptable manner” and warn that if they damage the value of F1: “The FIA may be liable as a result.”

 

It is the latest, strangest and most serious development in a behind-the-scenes battle between F1 and its governing body, which has some roots before Ben Sulayem assumed the presidency but has escalated in the 12 months since he took up the position.

The fact F1 felt the need to intervene so formally, in direct response to the FIA president’s remarks, and warning that it is hoped “it will not be necessary to address this issue again”, is significant.

Ben Sulayem has raised more than a few eyebrows in F1 with his use of Twitter. Recent examples include announcing he wants to open the process to assess new teams, then taking to social media a few days later to publicly complain about an adverse reaction to the Andretti Cadillac project, which Ben Sulayem has talked positively about but teams had responded to negatively in private.

More in the link above...

 

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