GP races are always exciting to watch; however, the 2021 Formula One season final did attract a lot of criticism as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went head-to-head in their championship run. If Latifi hadn’t crashed while the race was on, things could have been better for everyone. Especially for the FIA president, Ben Sulayem, who still feels icky about the day.

Notably, Sulayem’s election occurred only 5 days after the incident, hence drowning him with all the haste and nothing to go smoothly with. The then freshly-elected Sulayem indeed found reaching his destination of 12 years as an affair rather busy than enjoyable. Being a former race driver himself, he also feels the need to prefer sports over simply elevating stock prices. Let’s see what he has to say about the day in question.

Displeased Ben Sulayem breaks his silence on the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP controversy

In a recent interview with the German Motorsport Magazin, FIA president Ben Sulayem recalls the painful days of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the controversy that stole his thunder. He says, “My election was overshadowed by what happened in Abu Dhabi. A week after the race, I had been elected president, and they were already asking me what I would do.

Expressing how he got his head together, he added, “I said to myself, ‘Wait a minute, let me understand what’s happening.’ I had just won the election and wanted to enjoy the moment, as my journey to the presidency took more than 12 years! Afterwards, we looked around. I’ll be honest: I hate being reactive. I always say that failure to plan is just a plan to fail. You have to have a plan for everything, but I’ve been bombarded with problems. I was wondering what the hell was going on.”

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The controversial finish of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix did pose some significant challenges for Sulayem that became difficult for him to cope with. But were any steps taken after the whole incident?

2021 Formula One season aftermath

With the situation at hand, Ben Sulayem, the newly elected FIA president, felt overwhelmed. Despite the FIA attracting a lot of criticism towards itself, Ben Sulayem treads with a plan. Notably, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton and won the championship. Given the circumstances, this win did question the fairness of the result and race director Michael Masi’s decision about the race, eventually relieving him of his duties.

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Moreover, with a cooler head prevailing, Ben Sulayem acknowledged the whole situation and the sudden challenges that stood in front of him. He implemented some proactive planning. Further, to mitigate these issues happening in the future, he made some structural improvements in the single-seater department as the heart of the problem was in the final laps of the race, stating, “We have a better structure…so there will be fewer problems.”

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Observing what Sulayem said, it can be felt that even after two years, Sulayem still gets a bit shaken by the mention of his early days as the FIA president.