Jean Todt blasts Mohammed Ben Sulayem for putting dirt on his 12-year reign as FIA President

Mohammed Ben Sulayem has several times in the past questioned Jean Todt's FIA reign.

Jean Todt blasts Mohammed Ben Sulayem for putting dirt on his 12-year reign as FIA President

Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Jean Todt (Via IMAGO)

Jean Todt, the former FIA President, held the top position at the governing body of F1 for over a decade amidst multiple controversies. He first came into power in 2009 and continued as the head until the end of 2021. After his departure, came the current leader, Mohammed Ben Sulayem who has several times in the past put shade on Todt’s FIA reign.

While Ben Sulayem has never missed an opportunity to put some dirt on Jean Todt‘s FIA reign, the latter has finally had enough and come up with a scathing attack of his own. He firmly believes that much of Sulayem’s criticism toward him is not right and thus, has come up with a detailed explanation.

YouTube video

Sulayem recently said;

FS Video
There was a financial issue that we didn’t know about. We had a deficit, even before the pandemic, but I’m pleased to have cleared that."

Seeing the FIA President’s comments, Todt has also come up with a response and told Autosport;

When I left, there must have been more than 250 million Euros in reserves.

Looking at the comments of Todt, it is quite clear that he does not agree at all with the harsh criticism that he has been targeted with by Sulayem.

When I arrived in 2009, there were barely 40m [Euro], although the FIA had just ceded the commercial rights to F1 for a hundred years a few years earlier. I don't call it a deficit. When I left, the budget had been multiplied by almost three.

FIA has found itself in hot waters in recent times

While Jean Todt and Mohammed Ben Sulayem have engaged in a war of words recently, the latter’s FIA has also been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. First, the governing body raised question marks around Toto Wolff regarding a conflict of interest and then, went after his wife, Susie Wolff.

FIA (Credits: Planet F1)
FIA (Credits: Planet F1)

All this unnecessary drama has got the world bashing the FIA and they have had to face a lot of heat. Moreover, during the recent FIA Gala Ceremony, the former 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton also took the opportunity to bash the FIA for how they treated the Wolffs.

Hamilton openly questioned the integrity of some of the people at the FIA and indicated that a few specific changes were required. The FIA as the governing body of F1 has a very important job to look after the best interests of the sport, thus they should focus more on making F1 better rather than questioning people unnecessarily.

In case you missed it: