The current FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is reportedly facing an investigation over allegations of interference in the outcome of last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix concerning Fernando Alonso’s penalty.
As per BBC Sport, a whistleblower has come forward to the governing body, claiming that the FIA President intervened to have Alonso’s time penalty revoked, consequently affecting the final podium positions.
Alonso initially secured third place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, he was later slapped with a 10-second time penalty after post-race scrutiny revealed work conducted on his car before completing a previous five-second penalty.
This penalty pushed him down to fourth place. Nonetheless, after the penalty was overturned, he was reinstated to third position.
The whistleblower alleges that Ben Sulayem contacted Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamas bin Isa Al Khalifa, the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, who was present in an official capacity in Jeddah.
It is claimed that Ben Sulayem urged for Alonso’s penalty to be reversed during this communication.
BBC Sport has reviewed a report submitted to the FIA’s ethics committee by a compliance officer, Paolo Basarri.
The report contains details of the whistleblower’s claim, stating that Ben Sulayem “expected the stewards to overturn their decision to issue” the 10-second time penalty to Alonso. “Pretendere,” used in Italian, translates to “expect” or “require.”
The ethics committee is expected to release its findings within four to six weeks.
