Inside the Piranha Club, the ruthless world of F1 politics

If you’ve watched “Drive to Survive,” you will know that a big part of the drama in Formula One doesn’t take place on the racetrack or among the drivers. 3 main players F1’s political system consists of three pillars: F1 itself, the company owned by Liberty Media; the FIA, F1’s governing body; and the 10 teams. The sport’s governance structure requires a “super majority” of eight teams, plus the FIA and F1, to agree for a rule change to be enacted. Ben Sulayem, the governing body’s president, informed teams in February that he would be stepping back from day-to-day affairs in F1, handing the reins over to single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis, who oversees the technical rules. Ben Sulayem said it had always been the plan for him to step back after restructuring the FIA’s operations, but the move came in the wake of a number of controversial incidents, including: F1 accusing Ben Sulayem of interfering in commercial matters when he called a rumored $20 billion valuation of the series “inflated.” The emergence of comments made in 2000 by Ben Sulayem saying he did not like “women who are smarter than men, for they are not in truth.” The FIA responded by saying the comment, found on an archived version of Ben Sulayem’s website, did not reflect his views, and pointed to his strong record promoting women in motorsport.