A clip circulating on social media has uncovered the moment Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton snubbed FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem following Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton claimed his best grand prix result of the F1 2025 season in Bahrain, recovering from ninth on the grid to finish fifth.

Lewis Hamilton snubs FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at Bahrain GP

It came after Ferrari introduced their first upgrade of the year with Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished one place ahead in fourth, running a new floor.

Ben Sulayem, who has served as FIA president since December 2021 and is seeking re-election this year, was present in Bahrain for the fourth race of the season.

And a hidden clip at the end of the race has unearthed the moment Hamilton brushed off the head of F1’s governing body.

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The clip shows Ben Sulayem standing outside of the FIA’s garage, where drivers are weighed at the end of the race.

As Hamilton approaches, the FIA president holds out his arms widely to offer an embrace the Ferrari driver.

Hamilton instead elects to tap Ben Sulayem on the side as he walks straight past, with the FIA president patting the seven-time World Champion on the back.

Hamilton has been a vocal critic of Ben Sulayem’s regime, declaring last year that the sitting FIA president has “never” had his support before criticising the perceived lack of transparency and accountability of the Ben Sulayem era.

Hamilton said: “He never has [had my backing].

“There is a real lack of accountability here, within this sport, within the FIA.

“There are things that are happening behind closed doors, there is no transparency, there is really no accountability and we need that.

“The fans need that.

“How can you trust the sport and what is happening here if you don’t have that?”

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Hamilton also took exception to Ben Sulayem likening F1 drivers to rap artists in the midst of a clampdown on swearing at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, claiming the FIA president’s remarks contained “a racial element.”

Ben Sulayem’s appearance at the Bahrain Grand Prix came just days after he lost a key member of his leadership team as Robert Reid resigned from his position as the FIA’s deputy president for sport.

Reid, who famously won the World Rally Championship as co-driver to the late Richard Burns in 2001, claimed that the key “principles” of transparency, strong governance, and collaborative leadership have been “increasingly set aside” by the current FIA regime.

Reid has become the latest senior figure to leave the FIA over the last 12 months.

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