All through the 2024 F1 season, the FIA has caught a lot of heat from fans and the F1 community in general. Ever since Mohammed Ben Sulayem took over as FIA president, his reign has been far from quiet. The Emirati took over the reins from Jean Todt, and the complaints have been racking up. It also didn’t help that Ben Sulayem has been making questionable decisions and hitting back at critics of said decisions.

In light of all this, former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan delivered his very low opinion of the new FIA president. According to him, the FIA needs to focus on it’s work ethic and ensure transparency and consistency. The shenanigans at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix only served to exacerbate the problem even further.

Eddie Jordan was furious with Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the FIA

In 2024, the Qatar GP witnessed a fair number of odd decisions. Chief among them was an incident where a wing mirror fell onto the track. Conventionally, a yellow flag or a Virtual Safety Car should be shown, to fetch the debris before it’s too late. Unfortunately, the FIA stewards did not act until Valtteri Bottas ran over the mirror and scattered debris everywhere. This triggered punctures for Carlos Sainz Jr and Lewis Hamilton. Additionally, when the yellow flags finally showed up, Lando Norris was hit with a 10-second stop/go penalty for not slowing down.

He told the Formula For Success podcast, “What is going on with the FIA? Look, I reach out to you, I actually really do like you, Mohammed, I’ve known you 35 years. For Christ’s sake, get a grip of what’s going on in the FIA. Yes, I may get banned from going to the Grand Prix. I don’t care. I just do not see that the FIA is behaving properly, the stewards are behaving properly. It was wrong.” Now, what Jordan refers to was not just Norris getting hit with a penalty. It’s the fact that the FIA could have taken action much before the Lando Norris incident happened. Had they done so, perhaps the title fight for the Constructors championship wouldn’t have gone to Abu Dhabi. Add to that the harsh critique the FIA received after the Austin GP and you start to see where the frustration comes from for Jordan.

“Every person in that team, in McLaren, should feel aggrieved, and the reason being that, they have, on many occasions, said, ‘We’ll investigate after the race’. Isn’t that what happens? Many times? Did they do that? No, they didn’t apply that. Even though the race was getting close to the end. Everybody in life, in any jurisdiction in the world, there has to be fairness, and the fairness is the mitigation and the right to be able to defend yourself. That is fundamental in the world, and I think that Lando was deprived of that.”

The former Jordan F1 team owner acknowledged that his comments could have consequences. As it happens, the FIA really does not like being criticized, and they may even go as far as to ban him for it. However, the 76-year-old seems to have reached the point where he is way past caring about their opinion.

Yet, the points he makes are important for the F1 world. The stewards and FIA have had a rocky time this season. Former F1 race director Niels Wittich and Tim Mayer are the biggest examples of that. Both were fired from their roles and were extremely displeased. Mayer went as far as to call Sulayem out. Mayer also explained the controversy with Max Verstappen’s swearing penalty was about Ben Sulayem’s own beliefs, elaborating, “His view is that the drivers need to be penalised for swearing, and what has happened since reflects that… Most drivers, English is their second, third, or fourth language, and every go-kart kid in the world, it’s the first word they are taught in English. There are other ways to handle that kind of thing unless your desire is to flex your muscles.”

Whether or not true, Ben Sulayem might have a serious problem on his hands next season. With the title fight likely to heat up, there may be controversial moves and it can mean one wrong ruling and the teams are at his throat. For now, the FIA President dealt with the issue of being accused for his biasness in the Andretti saga.

FIA boss claims innocence in Andretti’s struggle

Mario and Michael Andretti’s desire to entire Formula 1 has been one of the biggest talking points of the year. After all, a major American racing team entering the sport while partnering with an American car giant is enough cause for celebration. However, the proposal was rejected. The proposition was deemed to not be valuable enough. It put Ben Sulayem under the spotlight, with accusations of him blocking the move.

He later clarified, “I feel he should be proud because he’s the founder who started this thing with his partners. We did the proper due process. We never favored anyone, and it is only because his application ticked all the boxes that the FIA approved it. Michael is a lovely person and I do not feel this was personal against Michael Andretti.”

What might have struck out for fans was Ben Sulayem’s idea for Andretti. Instead of Andretti entering as an 11th team on the grid, Ben Sulayem wanted them to take the Audi route. Buy an existing team and turn it into its own. And for a while, that seemed like it could be the case. Rumors of Visa Cash App RB and Alpine going up for sale clouded F1 rumors. Yet, no such move materialized and in the end, Andretti had its way.

Now, with their entry on the F1 grid, the stakes will be higher than ever for the FIA boss.