Formula 1 team bosses, plus FIA member clubs, are scared of expressing their true feelings over the forthcoming presidential election for fear of retribution, says candidate Tim Mayer.
As former chief F1 steward Mayer continues to canvass support from both within the FIA membership and the wider mobility and motorsport world for December's presidential election battle, he said one common theme that has emerged is that people do not want to step up and publicly support a call for change.
He said this totally backs up his slogan about a "reign of terror" that exists at the FIA under current president Mohammed Ben Sulayem - and further supports his view that the time has come for a new presidency.
Mayer launched his presidential bid over the British Grand Prix weekend earlier this month and spoke to several key figures within the F1 paddock that weekend to let them know about his plans.
Speaking exclusively to The Race about the feedback he got, Mayer said that in private people were hugely supportive of him - but were not willing to put their heads above the parapet by backing him in public.
"I have to be quite careful on their behalf, but the feedback that I've got is that I am saying the things that they don't feel that they can say," he explained.
"I'm not referring to any specific person individually, but collectively the paddock is telling me: 'Hey, thank you for saying that. Because I feel like if I say it, my team's in trouble, or we're in trouble, whatever it might be'.
"As a regulator, that should not be the case. There is absolutely no place for playing games with the competitors when you're the regulator. Just no place for it."
Mayer said he has been getting similar messages from FIA member clubs, too.
"It's interesting," he said. "I've used this 'reign of terror' phrase about Mohammed, and in no democratic system in the world should it be that people are afraid to speak out. But they are..."
While Ben Sulayem himself has strongly denied the accusation about the FIA operating under a 'reign of terror', and an open letter was sent by FIA region IV president Ricardo Morales Rubio stating this view was wrong, Mayer said he stood by his words.
"Absolutely [I do]," he said. "If you look at the way the staff are managed - staff come, staff go. I invite you to look at LinkedIn on any given day, there are open slots all over the place.
"It is a demonstrable fact that the staff turnover right now is just appalling, and it's because it's a very difficult environment to work in."
The illusion of inclusion
Since his British GP press conference, Mayer also received an open letter from the chairperson of the FIA women in motorsport commission, Burcu Cetinkaya Bonnet, urging him to reconsider his remarks about inclusion and diversity within the FIA having been an "illusion".
She highlighted a lot of progress that has been made on this front.
But Mayer said that while he welcomed greater female presence in senior roles within the FIA, it was wrong to credit this progress simply to Ben Sulayem.
"I absolutely stand by my comments," he said. "I wrote her a letter back and said: 'Look, I absolutely celebrate the victories that exist. But you have to put them in context'.
"The number of people that are on the world council was actually the result of a statute change that was put in place by [former FIA president] Jean Todt. This is not Mohammed revolutionising things.
"Fair play to Mohammed. There are some very highly qualified women in political positions. But my point is that when you work closely with the presidential team, your days are numbered.
"That illusion of an inclusion that I referenced: you can take a look at [former FIA CEO] Natalie Robyn, or the head of the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion, Sara Mariani], who recently got taken out quite publicly.
"There's a list of women who are in positions of influence, who come, try to establish their position and then are swept out. And again, you don't need to take my word for it. You can just look at the list.
"Are there more women on the World Motor Sport Council than there were 10 years ago? 100%, no question. And I celebrate that, and that's great.
"But we need to have a respectful and working environment where everybody's voice can be heard, respected, and followed through on. That is completely different to what we see in reality, with Mohammed."
The next campaign steps
Last week Mayer published his governance manifesto, in which he vowed to row back on several controversial changes that Ben Sulayem has made to the way the FIA is run since taking over.
He was also clear that he feels the need for the role of the FIA president to change, so the organisation can better adapt to the challenges of the modern world.
"You need a president who is focused on strategy, who is focused on the bigger picture of: Where are we going to be in 10 years' time?" Mayer said. "Where is the future of mobility going to be in 10 years' time? Where is the future of powertrains going to be in 10 years' time?
"The job of the president for me is to go out and develop that consensus, then come back and say: 'OK, now, executive, here's where we're going to be in 10 years' time. Let's work the plan backwards. Let's figure out where all the intermediate points need to be'.
"What we absolutely should not be doing is walking into the paddock in Bahrain and saying: 'Let's have V10 engines'. And then the next month, walking in and saying: 'Let's have V8 engines'."
One of the most significant stepping stones of Mayer's campaign bid remains in putting together his presidential list of senior figures who will stand alongside him.
Mayer originally suggested this would happen within 30 days of his campaign being launched, but he said it may now be tactically smarter to wait a while.
"The presidential list doesn't actually have to be published until October 23," he said. "I would love to be able to come roaring out of the gate and say: 'Here's the team'.
"Unfortunately, the process discourages that. And if you look back at Mohammed's campaign last time out, the presidential list wasn't fully announced until quite late in the game.
"We are still working on a few of the slots - and part of my laps of the world is to go sit down with some of these people. But unfortunately, it's a process that discourages releasing too much too soon."
