Tim Mayer has announced his candidacy to challenge Mohammed Ben Sulayem for the FIA presidency.
Here's what you need to know about the 59-year-old presidential candidate after he launched his bid on the Friday morning of Formula 1's British Grand Prix.
Clashes with Ben Sulayem
Mayer most famously served as an FIA steward for 15 years across F1, the World Endurance Championship, the World Touring Car Championship and several junior single-seater series.
He did so before being sacked in November 2024, following a dispute between the FIA and the United States Grand Prix organisers.
Mayer was working on that dispute in an independent capacity from his FIA role, serving as representative for US Race Management, the 'sporting organiser' for all three F1 races in America, rather than the event promoter.
Mayer had been a part of the initial stewards' panel that criticised and punished the US GP organisers for a track invasion at the end of the race last year.
He was involved in the subsequent right of review hearing on behalf of the sporting organiser as the circuit and the organiser took issue with the stewards' verdict that they'd "failed to take reasonable measures, thus resulting in an unsafe condition".
It was determined that no breach of the International Sporting Code had taken place, but sporting regulations were broken, with a €500,000 fine still imposed – €350,000 of which was suspended until December 31, 2026.
Mayer claims that's why Ben Sulayem benched him for the Brazilian GP and subsequently sacked him from the FIA - where he'd also helped coordinate US motorsports and taught and worked on multiple commissions.
After he exited his role, Mayer was critical of Ben Sulayem's leadership, telling the BBC that the FIA was "running out of people to do those jobs" after a string of high-profile departures.
Mayer said that Ben Sulayem "took offence" at the contents of the appeal document that had been filed by US Race Management.
He added: "The official reason that will be given is they felt there was a conflict of interest with the FIA, as I had led the right of review in my role as organiser.
"But that is not why I was fired. Being an organiser is a role that I have fulfilled, benefiting the FIA, for over 12 years. This isn't new.
"In spite of the matter being resolved quietly and amicably, he's still upset and decided to fire me.
"After 15 years of volunteering my time as a steward, a decade teaching other stewards and hundreds of hours volunteering in other roles, I got a text from one of his assistants."
The FIA denies Mayer was sacked via text.
Early career
Mayer is the son of former McLaren F1 team principal Teddy Mayer and has vast experience in US motorsport in particular.
He worked in communications in CART IndyCar during the 1990s - first closely with then Team Penske driver Emerson Fittipaldi - before becoming the championship's senior vice president of racing operations in 1998.
In 2003, he moved to overseeing CART's events in the UK and Germany for a single year.
Mayer then became the chief operating officer of IMSA (and later the American Le Mans Series) in 2004 for several years before he started work with the FIA in 2009.
