F1 | Ben Sulayem delegates the management of the Circus to Tombazis

The president of the FIA takes a small step back on the management of the top motorsport category, delegating the ordinary management of Formula 1 to Nick Tombazis. In addition, Steve Nielsen will hold the position of sporting director; these two dolphins of the president will have daily relations with the ten Circus teams and with the ownership of Liberty Media.

The official reason for this delegation of functions is that I'm Sulayem, elected at the end of 2021, would have effectively completed the reorganization of the Federation, which emerged battered from the Abu Dhabi 2021 affair as regards more specifically the management of the queen category.

With this decision the president has decided to no longer deal with the ordinary administration of a championship which in any case is experiencing a golden moment due to the interest it arouses. Someone has linked the choice to delegate relations with Formula 1 to the recent (and heavy) disagreements with Liberty Media and Stefano Domenicali, with interference on commercial issues (value of the category, respect for the fans) which the Americans did not like of Liberty, who hold all the commercial exploitation rights of F1.

Presumably Ben Sulayem's choice to deal less with F1 is also aimed at mending relations with Liberty Media and easing the too many tensions that have accumulated in recent times, also to avoid damaging an asset that is doing well.

The FIA ​​president announced his decision with a letter invited to the teams: ““My goal was to be a non-operational president, thus creating a group of professional managers, which was largely accomplished - thus the letter - For this reason, from now on your daily contact for all matters concerning F1 will be Nicholas Tombazis and his team, while I will deal with more strategic matters."