Tim Mayer launched his FIA presidential campaign with an aggressive attack on the “illusions” of incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and a promise to make the governing body offer “real value, real partnership and real leadership”.
Mayer is a leading official who was removed from his position as one of F1’s most experienced and respected stewards late last year, which he said was a direct result of Ben Sulayem having an issue with him.
At a press conference on Friday ahead of the British Grand Prix announcing his candidacy, the American said this was not a revenge mission, but that he had been given the time to understand the problems the FIA faces and - and described Ben Sulayem’s tenure as a series of illusions.
An early onslaught
“We have to be honest about where we are today,” Mayer said in his opening address.
“Three years ago [Ben Sulayem's campaign was actually in 2021], Mohammed Ben Sulayem ran on good ideas: value for smaller clubs, transparency, reform.
“The message was right, the delivery has failed. Instead of reform, we've seen performance.
“Behind the stagecraft, we've been left with the illusion of progress; and the illusion of leadership, while the most senior team he appointed has departed.
“The illusion of inclusion, while capable voices, especially women and those from diverse backgrounds, were pushed out when they spoke truth.
“The illusion of a financial turnaround, when the FIA has really returned to pre-pandemic norms, but now with less independent oversight.
“The illusion of transparency and engagement, even as decision-making grows more centralised and dissent is punished.
“And perhaps most corrosive, the illusion of integrity. In four general assemblies, we've witnessed wave after wave of statute amendments, presented as modernisation or democracy, but in reality ushering in the greatest centralisation of power in the FIA's history.”
Ben Sulayem has transformed the FIA’s financial situation in his time as FIA president but has also been embroiled in various controversies.
Mayer wasted no time in making it clear a key foundation for his candidacy is trying to undo what he sees as major missteps in leadership.
He described Ben Sulayem’s tenure as a “reign of terror”, said that dissent is punished, and that “the one area of the FIA that has gone forward is the ability to write press releases celebrating small victories”.
Referencing the furore over the imposition of strict non-disclosure agreements around FIA World Motor Sport Council meetings, Mayer said members are “gagged” and that the removal of FIA Senate members was them being “pushed out for exercising their oversight”.
“That's not governance,” he said.
“Real governance is built on values, genuine democracy where every club has a respected voice, diverse perspectives as a structural priority of the FIA, a culture that welcomes challenge and debate. Transparency, transparent reporting, and honest evaluations.
“Good governance isn't about control. It's about service: the FIA must serve its members, not the other way around.”
Is this just revenge?
Mayer said late last year he was told by text message his services as an FIA steward were no longer required, and that the FIA’s official reasoning would be that he demonstrated a conflict of interest.
The son of McLaren co-founder Teddy, Mayer worked with the governing body for over a decade in roles including coordinating US motorsports and being a steward in F1 and the World Endurance Championship, plus teaching and working on multiple commissions.
Crucially, he claimed he himself was sacked because Ben Sulayem felt Mayer had committed “a personal attack on him” in a dispute between the FIA and the US Grand Prix organiser last year.
Mayer was working in an independent capacity as a representative for US Race Management, the 'sporting organiser' rather than the event promoter, and was part of the initial stewards’ hearing when the US GP was criticised and punished for fans invading the track at the end of the race.
He was then involved in a right of review as the circuit and the organiser took issue with the assertion they “failed to take reasonable measures thus resulting in an unsafe condition”. According to Mayer, Ben Sulayem took offence at what was presented in the appeal.
Asked if running as president was an act of revenge, Mayer said that ordeal was “disappointing for me” but stressed: “This is not about that.”
He said: “My commitment has always been to service. The stewards are all volunteers. I’ve had the privilege of stewarding multiple championships across the FIA spectrum.
“It gave me an opportunity to reflect on where we are as a federation. When I was engaged as a professional organiser of IndyCar or sportscars it was about serving the people who worked for me. And what I see is a failure in leadership right now.
“It’s not about revenge. It’s about how we can drive the FIA forward.”
That is the moniker under which Mayer launched his campaign: FIA Forward.
He said the timing of the announcement - held near Silverstone, at a neutral venue - was deliberate because it followed the recent FIA General Assembly in Macau, where some more changes were made to the processes around running to be FIA president.
“We now know what the rules of engagement are,” he said. “We’ve set our team in place. And we will be going out and campaigning and earning the trust from those votes.”
What's his team?
Mayer looks set to be the only candidate who will run against Ben Sulayem. World Rally champion Carlos Sainz considered standing but opted against it - and Mayer said his own bid was completely separate to that, and their discussions had not been connected.
The composition of Mayer’s team is unclear, although some names who have offered support to Mayer were mentioned at the press conference.
This includes Motorsport UK chairman, Prodrive boss and ex-BAR F1 boss David Richards, who actually helped Ben Sulayem with his election campaign the first time around but has since become a very outspoken critic of his presidency.
Mayer was also asked about Ben Sulayem’s former deputy president for sport Robert Reid, who resigned a few months ago. Mayer said Reid was not “central” to the campaign but had been giving him advice.
“He’s found himself in an extremely difficult position,” said Mayer. “It’s a very brave thing to do to resign from the position he did - the first time it’s happened in the FIA.
“That speaks volumes. A principled, honest person who was not able to do the job in the position he was in. But he’s only one of many. You look at the number of people who have resigned, they’ve gone in there with the best of intentions, and discovered they have no opportunity to affect change, no opportunity to say, ‘No, this is a bad idea Mr President’.”
To run, Mayer needs a list of senior figures who will join him in key positions, including the president of the Senate, and deputy presidents for mobility and sport.
Mayer would not name anyone specifically and admitted he does not have that entire team in place yet.
“The people who help us with all of the logistics of what we need to do, that team is complete,” he said.
“I’m very privileged to have some very high level advice on what we need to do.
“The presidential list - there are some vacancies still in that. We’ve been trying to keep this campaign below the radar, we’ve had to do that. There’s no secret in motorsport or mobility so if we’re talking to people that wouldn’t be a secret.
“Now’s the time, that’s the task in the next 30 days, to complete that list. But we have a great start on that.
“I’m proud of the professionals we have been able to attract. People are hungry for the opportunity to do a better job at the FIA.”
A key F1 issue already identified
Unsurprisingly given his background, and the profile of F1, Mayer has already identified a key issue that he feels needs addressing: stewarding.
When he was removed from his position last year, one senior official told The Race that there was a shortage of high-level, experienced stewards. Mayer echoed that concern on Friday.
He said he would not comment on cases of “interference” with officials - as Ben Sulayem had been investigated, and cleared, by the FIA ethics committee for allegedly interfering with stewarding cases in 2023 - but said they lacked the necessary support.
“We are very, very thin on professional stewards at that level,” he said.
“We have some great people doing an amazing job, not just in F1 but in WEC, in rallycross, in rally. Some incredibly dedicated people giving their time. But the support they’re getting isn’t that big.”
Mayer claimed the “entire officiating department” is “one-and-a-half people” responsible for training stewards. He said that pales in comparison to other sports “that take officiating seriously because it’s important for the fans to know they have that level playing field”.
“We’ve gone through an entire race control room of people in F1,” he said.
“They [the current team] are doing a great job, but largely unsupported. There’s not another group coming up. We should be thinking 10 years in the future.
“To be chair at a Formula 1 race, if I hadn’t had 10 years as a second steward, I wouldn’t have been able to do the job.
“When you get in the room with powerhouses like Adrian Newey, you’ve got to know what you’re talking about.”
But Mayer will not win the presidency just by framing himself as the anti-Ben Sulayem option. Or even as someone who can quell the conflicts that have erupted between the FIA and its most prestigious championship.
He said: “I know where the FIA can make the greatest difference: supporting our member clubs, especially those in underserved regions.
“Years ago at a grassroots motorsports forum, a woman from an African ASN said to me, 'For me, it's actually trying to find $5 for a bus fare for my marshals to bring them to the track'. That story has stuck with me, that story is grassroots.
“Not Formula 4, not million-dollar karting. It's the clubs scraping together funds for their first kart cross track, a few second-hand karts, a handful of volunteers. And if we're serious about real growth, that's where we must focus.”
'Servant leadership'
The obvious inference from Mayer’s criticisms of Ben Sulayem’s FIA is that his would be run differently, although the detail of how is still to be established.
There were hints, though, of the manner in which Mayer intends to lead the FIA - with repeated reference to what he called “servant leadership”.
He believes the job of the FIA president is to establish a vision for the governing body and then empower individuals to carry that out, rather than meddle directly.
“It’s a job that principally requires people to listen empathetically,” he said. “And to help people act on that vision.
“Not to get involved with trying to mess around with the politics of any individual championship.”
Mayer said he would need to be “very involved from day one” in the broader effort to “right the ship”, but then there needs to be “professional management” - indicating he would pursue a structure with a CEO, something Ben Sulayem actually introduced to the FIA.
However, his appointment, Natalie Robyn, is one of many to have left the organisation and said it has "serious ongoing structural challenges".
“I do believe in that two-tier structure,” said Mayer, who called Robyn “fantastic” and said he would “have her back tomorrow”.
“I do feel restructuring needs to happen,” he said. “Have we gone backwards? In some areas yes.
“There are still a number of very dedicated people working at the FIA.
“They deserve leadership that provides them with tools, vision. Not a reign of terror every time they walk into the office.
“I don’t think we need to break the thing, I’m not a revolutionary. I’m somebody who will evolve this forward.”
Deck stacked against opposition?
A key question for Mayer to answer over the next five months is whether he has a realistic chance of winning.
While Ben Sulayem has courted controversy and his public profile is directly associated with various run-ins with F1, he does have a fiercely loyal set of supporters across FIA member clubs - and has, more than once, had letters backing him published and signed by those clubs.
The improved FIA financial position has strengthened his position too, as has the prominent support of some smaller clubs who actually have a significant role to play in the election process given how votes in bigger countries can be split between different motorsport and mobility associations.
Mayer did not criticise that system, as he said it’s important for those smaller clubs to have such a voice. But he said he faces a “Herculean task”, even though “I’m not starting this without a clear expectation that not only are we going to make the ballot, we’re going to win it”.
“Certainly the deck is stacked in favour of the incumbent,” he said. “That’s deliberately so.
“These changes over the last four years have deliberately been made to centralise power in one office.”
There are 245 member clubs in the FIA, which Mayer and his team will attempt to reach out to and explain “why they can get better value than they are getting right now”. He said he believes such “retail politics” - going to see people first-hand to convince them of his candidacy on an individual basis - matters more than token gestures of support like recently published letters.
“I know how they’re obtained, what’s happened, and I don’t blame them in the slightest,” he said.
What Mayer hopes to play on is that those invested in the FIA are worried about “the next bomb getting dropped” and “the next scandal coming out”, and that he his team will be able to make Ben Sulayem’s supporters realise that his “ideas look good on paper if you don’t debate them, but if you look at the details, there are a lot of pitfalls he’s put in there”.
“There’s too much at stake to start without real confidence we can do this,” he said.
“The deck is stacked, but we know the game. We know the rules, where the challenges will lie. This will be an interesting five months for all of us. But it’s one we’re up for.”
