Formula One: Mohammed Ben Sulayem replaces Jean Todt as president of the FIA after winning election

Mohammed Ben Sulayem replaces Jean Todt as president of the FIA after beating Brit Graham Stoker in election… and new F1 chief will have a lot on his plate with Abu Dhabi fall-out

  • Mohammed Ben Sulayem is the new president of motor sport’s world body
  • He was elected as FIA chief and will succeed Jean Todt, who is retiring
  • The 60-year-old Dubai-born former rally driver beat Brit Graham Stoker to win
  • He will have his hands full following Max’s Verstappen’s controversial victory 


Bernie Ecclestone scored a major coup on Friday when his candidate beat the odds to be elected the new head of world motor sport.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, 60, of Dubai, became the first non-European president of the FIA, Formula One’s governing body, trouncing Graham Stoker, a 69-year-old British barrister, to succeed former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt after nearly 12 years in charge. 

The result in Paris was not entirely a shock — the vote was widely believed to be finely balanced — but people there described it as a ‘bloody nose’ for Todt.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem of the UAE has been named as the new president of the FIA 

He succeeds Jean Todt, who is retiring after serving three terms as head of the governing body

He succeeds Jean Todt, who is retiring after serving three terms as head of the governing body

Stoker was presumed to be his preferred heir, having served as the Frenchman’s deputy president since 2009.

Ben Sulayem won nearly 62 per cent of the vote, with ex-F1 chief Ecclestone’s wife, Fabiana, a 44-year-old lawyer from Brazil, elected as vice-president for South America.

Ben Sulayem will have to deal with the fallout from last week’s drivers’ title decider in Abu Dhabi — with Lewis Hamilton now set to face punishment for skipping the FIA’s season-ending gala in Paris this week.

Ben Sulayem said he had sympathy for Hamilton but added: ‘If there is any breach, there is no forgiveness on this.’

Formula One will be top of the new president's agenda following Max Verstappen's (right) controversial win over Lewis Hamilton (left) in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Formula One will be top of the new president’s agenda following Max Verstappen’s (right) controversial win over Lewis Hamilton (left) in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix