In the wake of the Qatar Grand Prix, the FIA — F1’s sanctioning body — is hoping to alter some of its rules to reduce accountability for leaders.

At the moment, ethics complaints in the FIA are overseen by the senate; the proposed change would instead mean ethics complaints would be overseen by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the president of the senate — though there are other proposals afoot.

FIA proposes new changes to ethics, audit guidelines

The FIA, which oversees the sanctioning of Formula 1 as well as countless other race series around the globe, has proposed a set of changes that would alter the power structure, the BBC reports.

The revisions have been circulated to member clubs and will be voted on at the FIA general assembly, which takes place on December 13.

Proposed changes center on the statues that dictate the audit and ethics committees — two committees that have launched investigations into the conduct of current FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Allegations arose that Sulayem interfered in the operations of two grands prix back in 2023; those allegations were ultimately dismissed.

Further, the audit committee has looked into the finances of Sulayem’s private office, which included the creation of a “president’s fund.” This fund consisted of a $1.5 million sum, which was to be distributed to member clubs, which vote for FIA president.

Neither audit allegation progressed.

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The revisions of the FIA’s operating procedure would completely alter the function of the aforementioned committees.

The audit committee, for example, would be stripped of its power to investigate financial issues independently.

Over in the ethics committee, the revisions would remove the power of the entire senate to review ethics complaints. Instead, the FIA president and the president of the senate would review those complaints together.

These proposed rule alterations come at a time of change within the FIA.

Most recently, race director Niels Wittich was summarily dismissed from the FIA with just three races remaining in the Formula 1 season. His replacement, Rui Marques, ended up with an action-packed and penalty-filled start during the Qatar Grand Prix.

Former chief executive officer Natalie Robyn departed the FIA after raising questions about how the organization was governed. Audit committee head Bertrand Badre and committee member Tom Purves were both fired in the summer, while compliance officer Paolo Basarri, who reviewed the complaints brought to the ethics committee, was fired alongside Wittich.

Per the BBC, these changes would totally remove the senate’s role in appointing the head of the ethics committee; that power would lie solely in the hands of the FIA president.

Further, the compliance officer would no longer have the ability to report issues to the audit committee. The audit committee would also be unable to investigate any issues that were not directly raised by the president ot the senate.

The vote on December 13 will be critical for determining the scope of the FIA president’s power in the future.

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