Carlos Sainz Sr decides not to stand for FIA president
LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Mohammed Ben Sulayem's chances of being re-elected unopposed as president of motor racing's world governing body increased on Wednesday when Spaniard Carlos Sainz Sr said he would not be standing for the FIA top job.
The 63-year-old double world rally champion, four-times Dakar winner and father of the Williams Formula One driver of the same name, said in May he was considering running against the Emirati in the December election.
The decision not to go ahead will allow him to compete again in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia with Ford next January, something he said he did not want to miss.
There is currently no other declared candidate beyond Ben Sulayem.
"Hi everyone. This message is to publicly confirm that I have finally decided not to run for the presidency of the FIA in this year's election," Sainz said on X.
"I have worked hard these past months to understand in depth the situation at the FIA and the demands and complexities that come with such an important project," he added.
"After a thoughtful reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the present circumstances are not ideal to set the grounds for my candidacy."
Sainz's son is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and the older Spaniard has dismissed suggestions there would be a conflict of interest if he was elected FIA president.
Sainz said his desire to serve and lead remained strong and he still believed the organisation needed to make some important changes, which he hoped would happen in years to come.
Ben Sulayem, who confirmed in May that he would be standing for a second term, is a controversial figure who has had battles with teams and drivers in Formula One and rallying.
He holds a strong hand in an election where regional loyalties come into play and recent statute changes have made it harder, according to critics, for potential rivals to stand against him.
Presidential candidates are also required to stand with a slate of potential office-holders put forward for the various roles.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump state visit shows the King has won the battle for Canada
The fest, as Donald Trump likes to call it, is coming. The King will host the US president in September for a full state visit after plans were put on fast forward by the Government. The upgraded visit, originally proposed as a semi-private trip to see the King in Scotland, will give team Trump the 'full bells and whistles' treatment and be based at Windsor Castle for the finest soft power the UK can throw at them. It is said to have caused tension between the palace and Government, placing the King in the unenviable position of formally hosting a head of state who has threatened to annex one of his own realms. After reports of the Prime Minister going 'against the wishes of the King', a Downing Street spokesman denied that Sir Keir Starmer had 'overruled' him when negotiating with the White House. Palace sources dismissed the idea that there is tension between the King and Sir Keir, emphasising that the monarch acts on the advice of the Government. 'His Majesty has known president Trump for many years and looks forward to hosting him and the first lady later this year,' a palace aide said. The message? The red carpet will be rolled out as usual. It is no secret though that the US state visit has proven one of the thorniest issues for the King on this year's diplomatic stage. Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada, insisting relentlessly that it should be America's '51st state'. The UK nevertheless invited him to be honoured. In turn, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, said his countrymen ' weren't impressed ' by the state visit invitation. British diplomats noted that Mr Carney risked breaching the convention that realms tend not to publicly criticise one another. However, the King stepped up. As Canadian sovereign, he was dragged willingly into Canada's plans to show its own power. The King's involvement saw him fly to Ottawa in May for less than 24 hours on Canadian soil to deliver a speech at its parliament, reminding the world it is 'strong and free'. It was rightly interpreted as a public rebuke of Mr Trump's ambitions. One senior palace source said it was intended as 'thought-provoking, not provocative'. The King was, they said, 'leveraging on the long relationships he has built over the years' and using his role 'to the benefit of all the realms and commonwealth nations at a time of great international challenge'. Then, the idea of hosting Mr Trump in September seemed a challenge. However, the storyline has moved on. Some would argue, in fact, that the firming up of plans for the US state visit is a sign that the King has quietly won the battle for Canada. Everyone is aware of the 'diplomatic tightrope' the King has been walking, said one source, but he has done so with 'great skill'. 'I don't think anyone is now in doubt about the King's support and affection for Canada,' they said. When he is photographed shaking hands with Mr Trump, it is believed there will be no hurt feelings from Canadians who have already heard about the King's allegiance in person. Last week, Mr Carney said he no longer believes Mr Trump is interested in a '51st state' plan. Asked by CNN whether the US president is still threatening to annex Canada, he said: 'No, he is not.' 'He admires Canada,' he added. 'I think it's fair to say maybe for a period of time [he] coveted Canada.' The UK Government, which has prioritised trade deals and defence rather than siding with Canada in any war of words, has stuck to the basic party line that Canada is an 'independent, sovereign nation'. It is a matter of some satisfaction in British diplomatic circles that Mr Trump's rhetoric has dialled down drastically. 'We haven't heard much about Canada, have we?' one source asked of the past few weeks. The King's transatlantic show of force, it seems, has worked. Mr Trump has got his way when it comes to the details of the state visit. His team made it clear that the original suggestion of a low-key trip to see the King was not the order of the day. 'The president loves the pomp and ceremony,' said one source familiar with the negotiations. 'He doesn't want a private photograph with the Royal family – he wants a public one.' Mr Trump has described it as a 'fest', denoting the high level of flattery and fun he expects. The manu regia – the formal paperwork cementing the invitation – was signed by the King last week and hand delivered to the White House by representatives from the British Embassy in Washington. The King hopes to return to Canada at some point soon. Before then, he will raise a toast to the US at a state banquet in September with Mr Trump by his side. If the King's inevitable praise for America and Americans can be heard without guests' minds leaping immediately to Canada, the palace can consider it a job well done. It is a strategy not without risk, but high stakes can produce high rewards. It could – and should – be the moment that the idea of America invading its nearest neighbour is finally put to rest.
Times
18 minutes ago
- Times
Sculthorpe Mill review: ‘You could just charge people to stand here'
I am not a massive one for getting out of London to review restaurants, as you may have noticed. To be honest, as a restaurant critic, it just feels silly getting on a train to leave the place where all the restaurants are, to go to one of the places where they aren't. But I tell you what I am a massive one for getting out of London for: U12 cricket matches in which my son is playing. I grew this boy specially, you see, and led him to the various wellsprings of cricketing beauty, to Lord's and the Oval, to my own back garden and to North London Cricket Club in Highgate, from the age of two or three onwards, and encouraged him to drink deeply, in order that he should grow into a leg spinner of great guile and cunning, so that I would have something to sit and watch with a pint in my old age, from the shade of a creaking oak tree. Most of his cricket for school and club is played around north London, but he is also a regular for the London Schools Cricket Association under-12s, which plays against most of the counties within what is considered viable reach of London. When they played Northamptonshire a couple of Sundays ago, it was just about feasible to drive him there and back on the day. But last weekend they played Norfolk, right up by the coast, with a 10am meet time. That's two hours forty with a prevailing wind and no accidents. So the only option was to stay over the night before, ideally somewhere cute with a restaurant I could review, thereby clawing back some of the immense cost of doing my bit to safeguard the future of England's summer sport. Sam and I have had good and bad luck in the past. He remembers very fondly the Artist Residence in Bristol where we stayed for the Gloucestershire match last year: beautiful room, huge bed, magnificent roll-top bath, epic cheeseburger, and his first uninterrupted eight-over spell the following morning (beating the bat repeatedly, for a creditable one for 22 during a brutal run chase). Less fondly a place called the Grim's Dyke Hotel, with its hot little room, creaking floorboards, janky service and evil 1970s Birds Eye-style beefburger. 'I'm never staying in a hotel with 'grim' in its name again, Dad. We should have known.' But for the Norfolk game, I found a place right out of the wildest dreams of the city dweller. Or, rather, Esther did, thanks to a local friend. Because she had decided that she and Kitty might as well come with us. Not to the match, heaven forefend. But to Norfolk, to the gorgeous old pub with rooms, and then to Holkham Hall and Burnham Market and Blakeney Point to see the seals, while the menfolk did what menfolk do. We picked up Sam from his school match on Saturday afternoon (in summer, he is never not playing cricket) and drove straight out from there, two and a half hours, no traffic dramas, and arrived in an Eden I had not anticipated. Sculthorpe Mill comes upon you, gratifyingly, a few miles short of the heaving holiday zone of Cley and Wells and the Burnhams. You turn off the A148 down a narrow lane between seething hedgerows and after a few hundred yards hit the prettiest dead end you'll ever come across: a flint rubble and red-brick mill with a Norfolk pantile roof, which was built in 1757, turned into a pub in the 19th century and then taken over in 2021 by Siobhan and Caitriona Peyton, who reopened it this time last year after a redesign by Shaun Clarkson. (The sisters have got some previous, having opened the famous Atlantic Bar & Grill in London and a number of other places with their better known brother, Oliver.) The easterly aspect at that point in the late afternoon was shady and cool, squeaky with history and flickering with bees. But out back a sunlit garden shone green as goblins and there was the sound of water lapping all around us. Inside, a handsome young lad called Joe checked us in from behind the low-beamed bar while pulling a punter's pint and then showed us to our rooms, which were high up in the mazy rafters. (I paid for these myself, don't worry; you'll only be billed for my supper, as usual.) Room 1 had a huge double bed and sofa and could easily take a less fussy family of four, but we took room 4 as well: smaller bed, smaller everything, but cooler, and with a view down onto a lush lawn with the River Wensum running both sides of it, trimmed with willow, lined with picnic tables, children, people playing quoits … 'Drinks in the garden, now!' I cried, and down we went, and stayed for the next six hours. Barefoot with my toes in the grass, I drank delicious light, airy pints of Oaks amber bitter from the Barsham Brewery, with a sausage roll, Esther drank lager, the kids played Jenga and quoits and paddled and drank Sculthorpe's own 'Made at the Mill' lemonade, and our friends Adam and Gay from Cley (it doesn't rhyme, thank God, because Cley rhymes with 'eye'), who had pointed us towards this place, came to drink with us too. Then we moved to a terrace with lovely iron furniture, orange tulips on marble-topped tables, honeysuckle climbing the pergola, and were served by eager young local girls and a super manager. We drank just a couple of glasses of light, dry Château Beaulieu rosé from Provence (a lot of cricket watching and driving to do the next day), with Marsh Pig coppa and curls of Norfolk Dapple, house pickles and truffled honey; salad of white Cromer crab, fresh bitter leaves from a local organic salad grower called Charlie, and little segments of grapefruit; and puffy warm flatbread with a reddish, cumin-scented hummus, shards of Granny Smith and walnuts. There was a barbecue going on and the scent of local Dexter beefburgers charring on the fire was all around us, but they were not being served in the posh bit, where we were. There was a burger on the kids' menu, but that wasn't going to be big enough for Sam or Kitty, and when the manager said he could make it bigger for them, it's possible that was his way round bringing them the verboten barbecue burger, or maybe he just had a magic wand. But I'm so glad he did, for the burger was a historic one. 'The best I've ever had,' said Sam. For only the 700th time in his eight-year burger-eating career. Can I pause here to remind you that we were sitting by a low stone wall, right by the roaring river, where it emerges from under the bar (where the mill wheel must have been) into verdant, flower-filled banks, looking across immaculate mature borders towards giant English deciduous trees, silhouetted by the sun going down over the 200-acre Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve of the Hawk and Owl Trust … I mean, you wouldn't have to serve such good food if you didn't want to. You could just charge people to stand here. But it's more fun with a juicy pork rib eye and roasted peaches (sounds a bit suburban, a bit 1980s, but it works beautifully) with romesco and a sherry dressing; and a golden-edged fillet of halibut with a crisp potato confit, double-shelled broad beans and cherry tomatoes. And then a wonderfully rustic tarte tatin, perfectly made in what I'd call the 'Norfolk fashion' with chunky quarters of apple in deep, mouth-coating pastry rampant with burnt treacly flavours, not mimsy slices of fruit fanned out like a ladies knicker display, the way they do in France. Sam and I shared the smaller, cooler room (if I sleep with Esther in a lovely place like this, I worry she'll come over all smoochy, so she goes in with Kitty), but before lights out he went to stand on the fire escape off the main corridor and look out across the nature reserve in the late dusk. 'It reminds me of Botswana,' he said. Which tells you not only how magically peaceful this place is, but that I might, just possibly, have spoilt my children. Luckily, however, the Norfolk U12s served London Schools' arses to them on a plate the following day, so he came back to earth with a bump.
Sky News
26 minutes ago
- Sky News
Harry Dunn's family say enquiry into Foreign Office's treatment of them will start within three weeks
The family of Harry Dunn have said the government is about to start an enquiry into how the Foreign Office treated them after the 19-year-old was killed. Harry, who was riding a motorbike, died after a head-on collision in 2019 with a car driven by Anne Sacoolas, who was exiting the American intelligence base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. Sacoolas left the UK 19 days after the incident, as the US government had asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf, claiming she was the wife of a diplomat. She was later revealed to be a US spy. The Dunn family began a long fight for justice, which eventually saw the former spy receive a suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to causing Harry's death by dangerous driving. She was sentenced in an "unprecedented" case at the Old Bailey - but did not attend the hearing in person after American officials stepped in. Instead, she was sentenced via a video link from her lawyer's office in Washington. Speaking to Sky News, a lawyer who has advised the family since Harry's death has now said an enquiry promised by David Lammy when Labour got into power will begin "within three weeks". Radd Seiger told The News Hour with Mark Austin that the enquiry will be chaired by Dame Anne Owers, who is "going to do a rapid piece of work". "We just want to leave a legacy for Harry, so what his family went through never happens again," he said. Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, added: "The failings need to be out there for all to see. "Certainly for us to learn about and for everyone else to learn about, so we can make sure in future, families like us do not get treated the way that we were treated." It is understood that the investigation, which is expected to last three months, will not include scrutiny of the role or actions of the US government. The enquiry is separate from a recent report on how Northamptonshire Police proceeded in the case. The force last week apologised and admitted failures in their handling of the investigation, after the report found officers prioritised the suspect's welfare. 2:48 Assistant Chief Constable Emma James apologised "for what is now clear was a failure on our part to do the very best for the victim in this case, Harry, and his family who fought tirelessly in the years that followed to achieve justice for him". She added in a statement: "The picture which emerges is one of a force which has failed the family on a number of fronts". The Dunn family have filed a complaint
