“Awkward” – Karun Chandhok points out the puzzling exchange between Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Christian Horner at the FIA prize giving ceremony
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Mohammed Ben Sulayem has an outburst in a conversation with Christian Horner at the FIA gala
Karun Chandhok is a former Formula 1 driver turned commentator. The Indian has become a regular in the F1 paddock, reporting in the Sky Sports coverage. Chandhok has not been shy about speaking on controversial issues in the F1 paddock, even questioning the decisions of Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the FIA. The presenter recently pointed out the FIA President’s outburst during the 2022 FIA Prize Giving gala.
In the FIA prize-giving ceremony, Christian Horner came up on stage to receive the constructor’s championship trophy on behalf of Red Bull Racing. As the Austrian concluded his speech and called this victory a “very special one.” FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem thanked the Red Bull boss and then proceeded to speak a bizarre few words. Horner had made a reference to the Japanese Grand Prix in his speech and called the race as controversial, this seemed to have touched a nerve of the 66-year-old.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem proceeded to mention his history with Red Bull, being sponsored by the Austrian team for his last championship, before the FIA President lashed out at Horner for calling the race in Japan controversial, The 61-year-old said, “First of all you deserve the win. if it’s the manufacturer or max, secondly… I mean I drove with a Red Bull sponsorship in my last championship and one thing you said about Japan, Japan you said was controversial. No!”
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali steps in to save Mohammed Ben Sulayem from further embarrassment
Ben Sulayem seemed to have lost control while he spoke, defending the FIA against the confusion in the points for that particular Grand Prix, which had led to Max Verstappen not knowing about his championship victory. The 61-year-old referred to how the sport’s governing body only implements the rules agreed upon by the teams. “The FIA was blamed for the points but it was not the FIA which made the rules, it was the teams who made the rules and we were implementing it.”
Finally, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali interrupted and called for the two to stay focused, which led to the FIA President finally calming down and ending his rant and wishing the Red Bull Team Principal the best for the team’s future. This incident was witnessed by amusing attendees at the gala and even led to Karun Chandhok calling it “Awkward” on Twitter. A scene of major embarrassment for the sport’s governing body and Mohammed Ben Sulayem himself.
This war of words between Christian and Sulayem may have been entertaining but shows the pressure on the shoulders of the 61-year-old as he leads an organization that has been riddled with controversy in the last two years, be it the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix or even the safety concerns at Suzuka this year. This outburst was bound to happen and we hope that going forward Sulayem can deal with issues with a calmer approach.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2308 Articles Published)