DECEMBER 24, 2024

FIA President wants drivers to pay for Permanent Stewards

The president of the FIA has decided to open another battle front against the Formula 1 drivers, telling that if they want permanent Stewards in Grand Prix racing, “they can pay for it.” There’s been no love lost between Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the Formula 1 drivers, especially since the start of this year and his latest salvo is unlikely to start mending fences between the Emirati and the GPDA.

Some of the decisions taken by the Formula 1 Stewards close to the end of the season were heavily criticized by drivers, Team Principals and experienced observers, leading to the ressurection of the discussion about having permanent stewards for the whole season, to try and get consistent decisions from race to race.

Of course such stewards would have to be paid, whereas the current ones are volunteers that simply get their expenses paid, but FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has turned this discussion into a matter of contention with the drivers. The Emirati started off by saying that, “it’s very nice talk but when they say professional, and they want professional, they don't want to pay for it.

Still quite upset the drivers have been on asking what the FIA does with the large amount of money scoped every year in drivers and team fines, Ben Sulayem added that, “they talk and then they say, ‘Where are you putting the money? Why we don't do this?’ But I don't say, ‘Oh, sorry, what about you?’ The drivers are getting over 100 million dollars. Do I ask where they spend it? No, it's up to them. It's their right.” He continued by insisting that, “it is none of their business, we do whatever we want to do with our money. It's our business. It's also the same with them and their money. It's their business.”

Ben Sulayem’s insistence that the FIA should get more out of the Formula 1 profits has been, so far, met with deft ears from both the teams and the Commercial Rights Holder and the arrival of Cadillac on the scene from 2026 is not going to make his task any easier, as there will be one more stakeholder collecting from the prize money and everyone else will have to accept a small cut on their own slice, the FIA included.