F1: Will Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s latest antic be his undoing? (2nd Update)

“Everyone thinks Ben Sulayem’s got to go,” one F1 boss, on condition of anonymity, told the BBC. “That is definitely the general view.”

Another senior source added: “There has been widespread disgust.”

Past sexist comments attributed to the FIA president aren’t helping either with a senior figure telling the BBC: “Those kind of comments bring down CEOs every day.

“What he really should be doing is backpedaling and apologizing. ‘I made those comments 21 years ago. I regret them,’ … whatever he wants to say.”

He has taken up battle with the drivers as well, the FIA president banning them from making political or religious comments with a race ban or $250,000 fine awaiting anyone who transgresses.

However, as we wrote elsewhere, it will be difficult to remove him because the drivers, team bosses and Liberty Media do not have a vote, unless they can influence all the FIA member clubs around the world to vote him out.

Sky’s Craig Slater reported: “The FIA, the governing body, does not have a day-to-day commercial role in the running of the sport. F1 subsequently sent a letter to the FIA, making it very plain they thought this was an unacceptable thing for the president of the FIA to do.

“I can reveal that no reply has come from the FIA to F1 but I can say that positive conversations continue between the two institutions. They are functioning normally as they need to do to keep the sport operating properly.

“I’m told there are positive conversations at all levels between those two organizations.

“People are still telling me they have issues with the kind of personal style of leadership Mohammed Ben Sulayem has at the FIA .

“These are the high-ranking individuals at a number of Formula One teams. So let’s see how that develops.

“There is still this friction, maybe Mohammed Ben Sulayem seems to be gesturing one way and Formula One and the drivers to an extent in some areas are pulling in another direction.

“And that will have to be resolved in the short term for the sport to function properly.”

F1’s owners Liberty Media want to get rid of Ben Sulayem and have a replacement lined up – David Richards, the former BAR and Benetton team principal and Motorsport UK chairman – according to Sport1.

The current owners of Formula 1 have lashed back at the president of the sport’s governing body, and it’s the latest in many snafus that he has made to piss off Liberty Media, the team owners and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

It is now ‘open warfare’ between F1’s regulator and its commercial rights holder, and it could get quite ugly.

After it emerged that commercial rights holders Liberty Media had fielded a reported $20 billion offer from Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem sounded off on Twitter.

“As the custodians of motorsport, the FIA, as a non-profit organization, is cautious about alleged inflated price tags of $20bn being put on F1,” he said.

“It is our duty to consider what the future impact will be for promoters in terms of increased hosting fees and other commercial costs, and any adverse impact that it could have on fans.”

Although Liberty Media turned down the Saudi approach, its Formula 1 organization was clearly incensed at the FIA president’s public intervention.

In a letter, which was copied to all ten Formula 1 teams, F1 said Ben Sulayem’s comments – which are still live on Twitter – were “unacceptable” and had “interfered with our rights in an unacceptable manner”.

The teams, and the FIA, are yet to publicly comment on the letter laying out Liberty Media’s declared “exclusive right to exploit the commercial rights” of the sport.

“Further, the FIA has given unequivocal undertakings that it will not do anything to prejudice the ownership, management and exploitation of those rights,” it added, insisting that it is “wrong” to suggest that the FIA must rubber-stamp any buyout deal.

“To the degree that these comments damage the value of Liberty Media Corporation, the FIA may be liable as a result,” the letter warned.

This may hinder Andretti’s efforts to get approved

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been very supportive of Michael Andretti’s efforts to enter a team in F1, but the teams have consistently pushed back for fear of losing revenue.

Both sides must approve the entry.

Things have escalated dramatically in recent week thanks to social media posts on Ben Sulayem’s personal account. The first was criticizing pushback over Andretti’s new team bid, even though current competitors had largely kept their initial pushback private on the matter until Ben Sulayem went public.

This war between the two sides could result in Andretti’s entry being denied.

Clearly his remarks about the Saudi interest and a $20 billion price tag being too high have proven to be a step too far because the market cap of FWONA stock currently stands around the $16 billion level. So a big to buy of $20b is quite reasonable.

A lawsuit by Liberty Media against Mohammed Ben Sulayem and/or the FIA could be so large it would completely bankrupt Ben Sulayem and the FIA itself.

How much longer before we hear demands that Ben Sulayem resign?

Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com