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It was claimed Ben Sulayem had attempted to have a 10-second post-race time penalty for Fernando Alonso quashed in Jeddah last year after Aston Martin was deemed to have worked on his car while serving another penalty.
Ironically, the post-race penalty was rescinded when the team successfully exercised its right of review.
In Las Vegas, allegations were made against Ben Sulayem, claiming he encouraged those inspecting the circuit as part of its homologation to find any fault with it such that it could not be licensed.
No issue could be found and the Las Vegas Grand Prix went ahead as planned, though with another ironic twist when a manhole cover broke loose and damaged Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and forced the cancellation of Free Practice 1.
An investigation into both allegations led the FIA ethics committee to determine there was “no evidence of interference by FIA President in 2023 Formula 1 events in Suadi Arabia and Las Vegas.”
The independent investigation was carried out into both claims with the procedure overseen by the FIA’s compliance officer and reviewed by a six-person ethics body.
It lasted 30 days and included interviews with 11 witnesses.
“After reviewing the results of the inquiries, the Ethics Committee were unanimous in their determination that there was no evidence to substantiate allegations of interference of any kind involving the FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem,” the FIA statement declared.
“Concerns over potential interference were brought to the attention of the FIA Compliance Officer and subsequently passed to the FIA Ethics Committee under Article 32.2.5 of the FIA Statutes.
“There followed a robust and wide-ranging independent review spanning 30 days, which included interviews with 11 witnesses.
“Allegations against the FIA President were unsubstantiated and strong evidence beyond any reasonable doubt was presented to support the determination of the FIA Ethics Committee.
“The FIA President was cleared of any wrongdoing regarding allegations (i) to have interfered with the Stewards’ decision to reverse an additional penalty on Car 14 following a challenge from the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 and (ii) to have attempted to interfere with the track certification process for the Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023. The certification was completed and approved in due time.
“The President [sic] complete co-operation, transparency, and compliance throughout the process during this investigation was greatly appreciated.”
