Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says he is “concerned” that the world automobile association FIA has filled one of the most important official positions in Formula 1 with the former chief legal officer of the Mercedes team.
On June 1, the FIA announced that Peter Bayer, most recently FIA Secretary General for Sport and also Formula 1 Executive Director of the association, will be replaced by Shaila-Ann Rao on an interim basis. Rao was also previously a personal advisor to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“That’s certainly a concern,” says Binotto, but at the same time emphasizes: “She’s a great person with a lot of experience. She’s certainly capable of doing this job, I’m sure. It’s a concern, but just a worry.”
Binotto: Have faith in Shaila-Ann Rao
It is now up to the people involved at the FIA to “ensure that there are no conflicts of interest, that everyone behaves appropriately. I have great confidence that the President will succeed. We at Ferrari are concerned, but I’m pretty sure that she will refute our concern with her behavior.”
Rao was Legal Director within the FIA from mid-2016 to late 2018 before taking the job at Mercedes. Your predecessor Bayer, an Austrian, had recently played a key role in Formula 1 under former FIA President Jean Todt. He is no longer part of the team of the new President Mohammed bin Sulayem.
“We appreciated working with Peter,” says Binotto. “He has always been very transparent, dealt fairly with the teams and, thanks to his competence and experience, addressed the issues at hand very rationally. But now there is a reorganization of the FIA. The new President chooses his team himself and we respect these decisions .”
Wolff: No concerns about the new distribution of posts
At Mercedes, there are no concerns about the replacement. Wolff emphasizes that “Shaila-Ann was with the FIA before she joined us. She was also Managing Director of one of the largest sports agencies and the positive thing about being in this position now is that she is familiar with regulation and transparency.”
“She’s a lawyer and that’s good because in the past we’ve always criticized that things haven’t always been transparent and clear for the teams. I think that’s one of the main concerns that she’s going to implement and that’s good news for all teams,” says the Mercedes team boss.