He would have intervened to have the penalty that initially cost Fernando Alonso third place in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP revoked. There is mystery over the translation of the report, drawn up by an Italian commissioner
Formula 1 is about to be hit by a new tornado, as now seems to be the norm in this winter of 2024. According to the BBC, the president of the International Federation, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is under investigation for having interfered with the outcome of a grand prix. An anonymous voice would have revealed to the British state broadcaster that the president would have intervened to cancel a penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso at the end of the last Saudi Arabian GP.
Alonso in the Arabian GP
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On that occasion Fernando Alonso had finished in third place, achieving the hundredth podium of his career. But after arriving he was penalized. What happened was that at the start Alonso had positioned his car incorrectly on the grid. An error that had already cost him a 5″ penalty, served in the race, during a pit stop. During which, however, one of his technicians would have touched his Aston Martin before the 5″ penalty. Hence the further sanction imposed at the end of the race and the consequent relegation from third to fourth place, overtaken by George Russell behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and the winner Sergio Perez. In the evening, however, the decision was overturned again, with the appeal submitted by Aston Martin upheld.
confusing translation
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Now the BBC revelation, according to which Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamas bin Isa Al Khalifa. vice-president of the FIA for sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, to whom he reportedly said that he believed the penalty should be revoked. At the basis of the story there could be a misunderstanding in the translation from Italian. The report had in fact been drawn up by Paolo Basarri, responsible for the compliance of the documents on the track. It read “Sulayem demanded the stewards to overturn their decision…”. The verb to pretend in English it does not mean “to pretend”, but rather “to pretend”. Which at the moment may not have led to thinking of anything incorrect. But, the BBC suggests, Basarri already pointed out the anomaly in the report, meaning the Italian meaning of the verb “pretendere”. The BBC also reports that other high-level people in the FIA confirm the anonymous source’s version.
Sulayem, Horner and…
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An already explosive situation is certainly further complicated. Only yesterday it was revealed that Ben Sulayem would have openly sided in defense of Christian Horner in the poisonous affair which sees the Red Bull team principal accused of “improper behavior” with an employee of his team. The FIA president would have asked Max Verstappen to defend Horner. However, he received a refusal. And not even 24 hours later, the anonymous voice on the BBC… Ben Sulayem and the FIA have not responded to requests for comment so far. It is expected – the BBC always reports – that the ethics committee will take four to six weeks to publish its report.
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