Sacked F1 race steward Tim Mayer has launched a series of claims aimed at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Mayer, who was dismissed this week, alleges that the president directly involved himself in expressing his views within the organization. A stewards' panel is assigned to each race to oversee it independently, but Mayer claims Ben Sulayem aired his views not directly with the stewards but through his staff. Mayer also revealed that the decision to punish drivers for swearing came from the FIA president. Max Verstappen was penalized with community service for swearing at the Singapore GP, and Charles Leclerc was fined €10,000 with half suspended for swearing at the race in Mexico. Mayer told BBC Sport that Ben Sulayem's view on penalizing drivers for swearing has been reflected in subsequent actions. Mayer added that there are times when Ben Sulayem directly gets his views known, not with the stewards directly but through his staff. Part of the stewards' job is to enforce the FIA's rules on bad language. While technically bad language is outlawed, whether it's sensible to chase drivers for mild swearing is another matter. Most drivers have English as their second, third, or fourth language, and it's one of the first words they learn. There are other ways to handle such situations.

Serious Accusation After Internal Investigation

Mayer's accusation is extremely serious as Ben Sulayem was subjected to an internal investigation into the outcome of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. A whistleblower claimed that Ben Sulayem intervened to overturn a post-race penalty issued to Fernando Alonso. Alonso was initially penalized for being out of position on the grid and had his car touched by a rear jack while serving a previous penalty. In March, a whistleblower claimed that Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the FIA's vice-president for sport in the Middle East and North Africa region, and made his thoughts known that the penalty should be dropped. The 10-second punishment was indeed rescinded, and Alonso was allowed to keep his third place. After a review by its own panel, the FIA said there was no evidence to support the accusation, and Ben Sulayem was cleared by the organization's Ethics Committee.

Unexpected Sacking via Text Message

Mayer, who worked for the organization for 15 years, learned of his sacking via text message from one of Ben Sulayem's assistants on Tuesday. He said that for a federation that relies on volunteers, firing someone who has made a significant contribution by text does not reflect well on the management. Speaking about the reason for his dismissal, Mayer believed it was because Ben Sulayem took offense following an appeal by the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) chiefs after a track invasion by fans. Mayer oversaw the right of review for the organizers of the United States Grand Prix after they were fined €500,000 with €350,000 suspended. Mayer was working in his other role as the sporting organiser and was trying to get the official punishment reworded to remove any suggestion of negligence. He was immediately removed from the stewards' panel for the Brazilian Grand Prix and then fired this week, with Ben Sulayem feeling the appeal was a personal attack. Mayer said the official reason given was a conflict of interest as he had led the right of review in his role as organiser, but that was not the real reason. After 15 years of volunteering as a steward and teaching other stewards for a decade, he was shocked to receive a text from one of Ben Sulayem's assistants. He added that there was no intention of causing a problem and he would continue as the sporting organiser of the three US Grands Prix.

FIA Departures Mounting Up

Mayer's departure comes after Janette Tan was inexplicably removed from her role as the deputy Formula 2 race director. Mayer and Tan's departures add to a list of departures from F1's governing body. Former F1 race director Niels Wittich and FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri also left their roles recently. In the last year, the organization has lost sporting director Tim Nielsen, technical director Tim Goss, managing director Natalie Robyn, head of commission for women Deborah Mayer, secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard, and director of communications Luke Skipper. Mayer is alarmed by Tan's departure as she was set to take over from Rui Marques, who replaced Wittich as the FIA's F1 race director. This means Marques will now oversee both F1 and F2 at this week's Qatar GP and next week's race in Abu Dhabi, as well as the F1 Academy. Mayer said Tan is the epitome of the type of person the FIA wants working for it, and it's a loss. He knows how hard the jobs are and that Rui is a good person, but it will put him under a lot of pressure. There aren't many "platinum-level" FIA race directors, and Mayer is one of them. It's a lot of work, and if you do the job right, you wake up every day with an ulcer thinking about all the things you need to handle. The FIA is not doing itself any favors by losing these people.