FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem faces further allegation that he tried to get Las Vegas Grand Prix cancelled
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is facing more pressure amid an allegation he tried to get the Las Vegas Grand Prix cancelled.
The head of Formula 1's governing body is now facing a further complaint from a whistleblower who told the BBC that pressured officials to find a way to pass the circuit unfit for racing.
Ben Sulayem was already dealing with allegations from the same whistleblower who told the BBC that the president tried to overturn a penalty for Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia last year.
And just a day earlier, De Telegraaf and the BBC claimed that Ben Sulayem had pressured Max Verstappen to publicly back under-pressure Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
The latest allegation around the Las Vegas Grand Prix was made in a report by the FIA's compliance officer to its ethics committee, and the BBC say the have seen the report.
It allegedly quotes the whistleblower saying their manager contacted them and "on behest of the FIA president instructed him to find some concerns to prevent the FIA from certifying the circuit before the weekend of the race".
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They're also quoted as saying: "The purpose was to find fault with the track in order to withhold the licence.
"Asked to be more specific, [the whistleblower] said that issues on the circuit were meant to be artificially identified regardless of their actual existence, with the ultimate goal of withholding the licence."
In response, the FIA issued a statement saying: " The Compliance Officer has received a report detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing bodies.
"The Compliance Department is assessing these concerns, as is common practice in these matters, to ensure that due process is meticulously followed."
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The Vegas event arrived on the calendar with much fanfare, returning to F1 for the first time since 1984, and racing along the Vegas Strip for the first time ever.
F1 reportedly invested £500million into the event, and despite safety concerns over a loose drain cover in Friday practice, Sunday's race went on to be one of the best of the season.
Ben Sulayem is an Emirati former rally driver who succeeded Jean Todt as FIA president in 2021.