"I knew who my successor was. I know the character": Former FIA president and F1 legend's sharp criticism of Mohammad Ben Sulayem

Former FIA president and Ferrari F1 team boss Jean Todt recently gave his views on the current FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, particularly on his governing methods.

Speaking to L’Equipe, Jean Todt first gave a sharp reply to Mohammed Ben Sulayem's claim of a deficit in the FIA budget even before the pandemic. Todt reportedly stated that when he became the FIA president in 2009, the governing body's budget was only €40,000,000. He further said that when he left the post, the FIA reserves must have been over €250,000,000.

Todt said:

“When I left, there must have been more than 250 million euros in reserves. When I arrived in 2009, there were barely 40 million [euros], although the FIA had just ceded the commercial rights to F1 for a hundred years a few years earlier."

"I don't call it a deficit. When I left, the budget had been multiplied by almost three, with many new competitions and sources of income, such as Formula E, the World Endurance Championship or the Rally Raid Championship.”

Furthermore, Jean Todt took a jibe at Mohammed Ben Sulayem, allegedly saying that he was not surprised by how the current FIA president is running the organization. He said:

“But I wasn't surprised, I knew who my successor was. I know the character... Everything that was put in place during my mandate was turned upside down.”

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FIA president welcomes new teams willing to join F1

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem recently showed his support for new teams trying to enter F1.

Speaking to Racer, he initially claimed that the FIA does not look at market share and that the governing body and the sport are non-profit businesses. Sulayem went on to state that he does not want any massive F1 entrant to take the FIA and FOM to court just because they are blocking them from entering the sport for the wrong reasons.

He said:

“Imagine us saying no to [the possibility of] potential teams. We are here to sustain motorsport and sustain the business. We don’t look at market share; we are a non-profit, and we have been established for 118 years in motorsport. I don’t want any big team to take us to court and say that we have been blocking them for the wrong reasons.”

As of now, only the Andretti-Cadillac team has been approved by the FIA to enter the sport in 2026.