The former CEO of FIA is expressed against leadership, fueling Ben Sulayem Row

The FIA ​​has “structural challenges in progress” and does not follow “professional processes” according to its former CEO Natalie Robyn.

It was announced Thursday before the Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula 1 of this weekend that the vice-president of the FIA ​​for Sport, Robert Reid, had resigned from the organ director of car racing with immediate effect.

With the president of the Motorsport in the United Kingdom, David Richards, Reid was one of the two prohibited members of the latest collection of the FIA ​​World Motor Sport Council for their refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement imposed by President Mohammed Ben SULAYEM.

Richards continued his war of words with Ben Sulayem and the FIA ​​in general, and Wednesday said that there had been a “contempt for the very real concerns which were expressed, not only by myself, but an increasing number of people, that the governance and the constitutional organization of the FIA ​​become more and more opaque and concentrating in the hands of the president alone”.

Robyn was the very first CEO of the FIA, but left her post in May 2024 after only 18 months, following the resignations of the single technical director Tim Goss, of sports director Steve Nielsen, and Deborah Mayer, president of the FIA ​​Women in Motorsport Commission.

While at the time of her release, she stopped explaining her reasoning, she now talked about what led to her departure.

“During my mandate as CEO, I worked in difficult circumstances to strengthen the Federation’s governance framework and improve its operational transparency,” she told BBC Sport.

“The resignation of the vice-president of the sport clearly indicates that there are serious structural challenges in progress.

“When professional processes are not respected and stakeholders are excluded from decision -making, this undermines the foundation of a solid organization.

“I am saddened to see these developments because they threaten both the credibility and long -term efficiency of an important institution.

“I worked in close collaboration with Robert during my stay at FIA and I have a lot of respect for him and of course his commitment to the future of motorsport.”