The International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced the appointment of Shaila-Ann Rao to the post of presidential advisor to Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
It is a shock return after a departure at the end of 2022 quite tumultuous (to read here)! Ms. Rao will advise the president of the FIA on various questions, including regulatory and commercial, linked to the seven world championships in the FIA. She will take office this May 1, 2025.
Ms. Rao is a doubly qualified lawyer (English lawyer and French lawyer registered at the Paris bar). She has a solid experience in international motorsport, having previously held the functions of interim secretary general for motorsport and FIA legal director. She was also a legal director of the Mercedes F1 stable and special advisor to her CEO and stable director, Toto Wolff.
-The appointment of Ms. Rao intervenes at a pivotal moment for the FIA, while the Federation successfully continues its organizational transformation and its financial reform, as evidenced by the predictions of operating results of 2.2 million euros for 2024, against -24 million euros in 2021.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “I am delighted to welcome Shaila-Ann Rao again to the FIA. His exceptional career in world motor sport will be a precious asset for me and my team, while we continue to improve the regulatory and commercial executives of all the FIA world championships, for the benefit of our pilots, our teams and our member clubs. She will also advise me on questions relating to all promoters of the FIA world championships. »»
Shaila-Ann Rao, advisor to the president of the FIA, added: “I am delighted to advise the president of the FIA on the FIA world championships and to continue the significant progress already made during his presidential term to strengthen the regulatory and commercial executives of the championships. The FIA occupies a unique place in world sport, and I am delighted to support it during this period and to help the president of the FIA build an even more promising future for motorsport. »»
