Carlos Sainz Senior weighing up presidential bid for FIA

IOL News

18-05-2025

Carlos Sainz Junior Carlos Sainz Junior. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
Carlos Sainz Senior, the father of Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz Junior, is thinking about becoming the next FIA President to take over from incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Sainz Junior is all for the idea of his father becoming the next president, citing his 40 years in rally and 10 years in F1 working alongside him.
He also claims there will not be any conflict of interest should his father become president.
Sulayem's presidency has been controversial at the least since taking over from Jean Todt in 2021, the year of the infamous Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton finale in Abu Dhabi.
Since then, Sulayem's authority has been questioned and even publicly undermined by drivers at times. His tough stance on profanity has been seen as an unnecessary rule by purists.
A few weeks ago, FIA Deputy President Robert Reid called it quits on the organisation, citing a downfall in governance and standards as the reason for his departure.
There has also been pushback by the European contingent within the FIA, who are not in support of Sulayem's rule.
But now a worthy European has emerged and is likely to throw his name in the hat come election day, Carlos Sainz Senior.
Sainz Jr said running for president was not his father's idea, but something suggested to him by many in the paddock.
'A lot of people in the paddock were kind of putting it in his head, and little by little, he started considering it. Now he's obviously thinking about it.
'The key is that he still hasn't put together a team, but he's considering it, and depending how he sees it, he will go for it or not. I can just tell you that he's considering it seriously.
'Like he said, he's evaluating all options, now starting to think about what people, individuals, he would like to have in his team.
'He's trying to understand how the elections work, how many people he needs to go and talk to. He's evaluating the whole thing and trying to understand how everything works. It's his thing now,' Sainz Jr told an F1 publication.
When asked about whether the Presidency could compromise either his or his father's image within the world of F1, Sainz Jr said: 'If anything, obviously he will be extremely careful.
'I will be extremely careful because the last thing that I want is my or his image or career to be damaged by that situation.'