Clearer path for Ben Sulayem as major rival drops out of FIA presidency race
FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer has announced the withdrawal of his candidacy from the 2025 FIA election.
“I will say something that may sound contradictory. The election for the president of the FIA is over.”- Tim Mayer
The 59-year-old, who spoke to the GPblog, revealed he would no longer be running in the election slated for December 12 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Mayer, who in July announced he would be contesting for the FIA presidency role alongside Laura Villars and Virginie Philpott, has now ruled himself out of the race.
“I will say something that may sound contradictory. The election for the president of the FIA is over, but our campaign is not neither is our mission to protect the integrity and reputation of the FIA," he said.
“So how can an election be over when the ballot is more than two months away? This time, there will be no election. There will be no debate between ideas, no comparison of vision, no examination of leadership.”
“There will only be one candidate, the incumbent, and that's not democracy. That's the illusion of democracy. Throughout our FIA Forward campaign, we've spoken of fairness, reform, and integrity, of returning the FIA to its members.”
“But today, the outcome of this election and the flawed process that governs it prove how far we've drifted from that ideal.”
“Under the FIA statutes, no presidential list can exist unless it includes one vice president for sport from every global region, and those vice presidents must be drawn from the list of those who've nominated themselves for the World Motorsport Council and have an international event on the FIA calendar.”
FIA election: massive twist
Earlier, it was reported that the FIA election had taken a major twist after reports emerged that the motorsport body released a list of individuals regarded as eligible for the presidential list.
The list features 10 individuals who make up the roles of the President of the Senate, the Deputy President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism, the Deputy President for Sport, and seven additional Vice Presidents.
Pertinent to this is the fact that these seven Vice Presidents for Sport must be selected from a list of individuals approved by the FIA as eligible to stand on the World Motor Sport Council.
The VPs are chosen across several continents and regions globally, with North America, the Asia-Pacific, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa each producing one representative, while Europe provides two.
However, Fabiana Ecclestone, who represents the South American region, has pledged her allegiance to Mohamed Ben Sulayem. This translates to the fact that the other candidates will not be able to submit a presidential list in accordance with the existing FIA election protocols before October 24.
This further suggests that current FIA president Ben Sulayem could be running in the December elections unopposed.
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