The Place de la Concorde definitely bears its name poorly for the FIA.
After Niels Wittich, the race director apparently resigned “without his knowledge” (see our article), the FIA has just undergone another forced departure. That of Paolo Basarri – who left his position as head of compliance within the FIA.
Several sources, both within the FIA and among those close to the organization, indicated that the Italian was fired after apparently losing the confidence of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Who definitely must not be the easiest manager in the world (that's an understatement).
According to the BBC in particular, Basarri would have expressed reluctance or tried to circumvent several requests from Ben Sulayem, which would have caused the latter's dissatisfaction.
“I can’t comment on that.” he told the BBC.
The FIA made no further comment.
What files could have been involved? Difficult to know. Let us remember that Basarri is the representative of the FIA who wrote a report on the allegations of interference by Ben Sulayem in two GPs in 2023.
A whistleblower reported to the FIA that Ben Sulayem intervened to cancel a penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, so as not to displease Aston Martin F1 sponsor Aramco. Mohammed Ben Sulayem would also have lobbied not to approve the Las Vegas circuit, in order to slap the promoters of FOM (Liberty Media), his best enemies.
The ethics committee, following an investigation, however, exonerated Mohammed Ben Sulayem. An internal ethics committee at the FIA…
Furthermore, this dismissal would not have been carried out properly, reports the BBC. Under FIA rules, the Compliance Officer position is managed by the FIA Senate, which must give approval for any dismissals. However, Basarri's departure was reportedly not discussed during the last Senate meeting, according to sources.
One more start at the FIA…
Before Basarri and Wittch, the FIA had already had to deal with the departure of sporting director Steve Nielsen after less than a year in office. Just before, Deborah Mayer, head of the FIA women's commission, left.
Among the other departures: Tim Goss, former technical director of single-seaters who joined RB F1. Or even Natalie Robyn, outgoing general manager after only 18 months in office.
In October, Communications Director Luke Skipper and Mobility Secretary General Jacob Bangsgaard also left.
In short, the FIA looks like a boat that is taking on water. Only the captain, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, remains on board for the moment, but for how long?
