FIA News: Mohammed Ben Sulayem faces more backlash after controversial remarks

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem was under the microscope last night after it emerged that he said he didn’t like ‘women who think they are smarter than men’.

Laying out, as the website put it, his likes and dislikes, he is alleged to have said: ‘I don’t like talking about money, nor do I like women who are smarter than men, for they are not in truth.’

The FIA says sexist remarks attributed to its president “do not reflect his beliefs”.

The existence of Ben Sulayem’s old website, and the fact it contained misogynistic views, had been discussed by senior figures within F1 since the 61-year-old Emirati became FIA president in December 2021.

But the website’s contents had not become public until they were revealed by The Times on Friday.

The newspaper reported that on the site Ben Sulayem says his likes and dislikes are “basically simple”, adding: “I love the desert and I love meeting real people.”

The website goes on to say that he does not like talking “about money, nor do I like women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth”.

This is just the latest in a line of missteps the FIA President has made, with people begin to question whether he needs to resign.