Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Thursday 08 May 2025 at 3:50 p.m.
If Mohammed Ben Sulayem will be a candidate for a second term at the head of the FIA, Carlos Sainz confirmed that he was planning to embark on the race if he managed to obtain sufficient support around his project.
Paddock noise is confirmed. For several days, a name has been a loop to bring the hopes of the opposition to the current president of the International Federation of the Automobile (FIA) Mohammed Ben SULAYEM. Successor of Jean Todt in this post at the end of 2021, the leader Emirati will put him into play on December 12 on the occasion of a congress organized in Tashkent. Currently, no other candidate has officially unveiled his ambitions, but voices have been raised to support Carlos Sainz if he had to embark on the race. The former double world rally champion and quadruple Dakar winner did not kick in touch when the British magazine Autosport questioned him on this subject. Indeed, the father of Carlos Sainz Jr confirmed that he was “evaluating the level of support” that he could obtain within the community of motorsport in its diversity. While continuing his career as a successful pilot, having won the Dakar last year at the wheel of an Audi, Carlos Sainz admitted that “this possibility (him) has been in his head for a while, without it being very wide”, while “it could be the right time in (his) career to cross this course”.
Sainz: “It’s probably the right time for me”
While Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s mandate was marked by various controversies and even conflicts with the pilots as much in Formula 1 as in WRC, the native of Madrid says he is “convinced that he can bring new and interesting things, to strengthen and develop sport and the world of the automobile” thanks to his experience. But he does not intend to launch his candidacy to “face anyone, it will be out of passion and for love of motorsport”. “I think it’s probably the right time for me, both on a personal and professional level, and that’s why I think about it,” he added. While the links woven with his son’s career in F1 could open the door to criticism of potential conflicts of interest, the former world rally champion concedes that he will have to review his commitment. “It is no longer a child, it’s been ten years since he has been in F1 and we both know that if I continue this project, our relationships will evolve, of course,” he concluded. FIA is a very serious entity and there will be no conflict. “He now has to federate motor sport as a whole around a project.
