JANUARY 5, 2024

Vasseur unsure discussions should be with FIA

The distance between the FIA leadership and the ten Formula 1 teams has become much bigger in recent months, with the competitors openly siding with the Commercial Rights Holder and being very critical of some of president Ben Sulayem’s moves. The sudden departure of the FIA Sporting Director, Steve Nielsen, is set to increase the gap between the sport’s regulator and the teams, as the veteran Englishman is hugely respected in the paddock, having successfully worked with a large number of teams, to the point he was singled out by drivers and Team Principals as a tremendously valid part of their discussions on the subject of improving the regulations and the way the sport operates – praise that is unusual to hear regarding an FIA official.

Even before Nielsen’s departure from the FIA, the teams reacted pretty badly to the creation of the role of Formula 1 Commissioner by the Federation’s president, believing the structure that was already in place was more than enough to make the sport work.

Asked what were the main topics Ferrari and the other teams would want to discuss with the FIA in the next 12 months, as the 2026 Technical and Sporting Regulations are set to be publish before the summer break, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur was quite dismissive of the need to speak directly with the Federation’s leadership or nis new controversial representative: “I don't know if the discussion should be between the FIA and the teams. We have a governance body which is the Formula 1 Commission and up until this year it has worked well. Personally, I believe that the main problem we have had throughout this season has been the consistency of decisions. This is still a topic within the Commission, because the most important thing is that fans have an easy understanding of our sport.”

The Frenchman went on to give what he believes it was a clear example of the lack of consistency in the official’s decisions: “Some decisions taken by the FIA, such as the management of track limits, do not go in this direction - the maximum lap time in qualifying was a joke: Russell was called 14 times by the stewards and never received a penalty . This means that the rules are not correct or that the stewards do not enforce the rules.” Vasseur then explained that, “I believe that we need coherence towards the fans, the sponsors, the manufacturers who invest and the shareholders who believe in our sport. We have very important topics before us, I believe the main one is 2026, and it will be necessary to be able to count on great cooperation. We must work together, as is already happening with the FIA technical department, a group with which we are carrying out good work”, he concluded, in a direct mention of Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA Technical Director that, together with Nielsen, did a lot of good work for the Federation in the last 12 months but now finds himself without his closest ally in the battle to bring the FIA up to speed with the rest of the Formula 1 world.