Swiss racing driver Laura Villars has reportedly launched legal action in Paris seeking to suspend the FIA presidential election, arguing that the federation’s rules prevent any challenger from running against incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
A court hearing is set for today (November 10).
The summons asks the Paris court to order the suspension of the December 12 election while the dispute is examined.
Villars’ filing follows weeks of criticism over the FIA’s “ticket” requirement for presidential candidates, which obliges each contender to present a slate that includes seven Vice-Presidents for Sport drawn by region before a candidacy is accepted.
The regional allocation is set out in the FIA Statutes and requires one Vice-President from each of Middle East & North Africa, Africa, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific, plus two from Europe.
In practice, this rule has left rivals unable to stand this year.
The FIA’s list of eligible World Motor Sport Council members for 2025 included only one South American candidate for Vice-President, Fabiana Ecclestone, who is already on Ben Sulayem’s ticket. With no alternative South American available, other tickets could not be completed.
Reuters reported the constraint, noting that the election is scheduled to take place at the FIA General Assembly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan later this year.
Villars said in a statement that the court authorised her to summon the FIA before an emergency judge. She is asking the court to delay the vote until a ruling is made.
“I have twice tried to open a constructive dialogue with the FIA on essential matters such as internal democracy and the transparency of electoral rules. The responses received were not up to the challenge. I am not acting against the FIA. I am acting to protect it. Democracy is not a threat to the FIA; it is its strength.” – Laura Villars statement
The legal move comes after former FIA steward Tim Mayer withdrew his planned challenge, calling the system undemocratic because it effectively blocks opposition tickets from forming. Mayer’s withdrawal Ben Sulayem on course to be re-elected unopposed absent court intervention.
Why the rule matters
The FIA Statutes (Article 10.4) require the General Assembly to elect a single list comprising the President, the President of the Senate, the two Deputy Presidents and seven Vice-Presidents for Sport, with the regional balance specified above.
A list may only be submitted if it meets support thresholds from Full Members. This structure means a shortage of eligible or unaffiliated regional candidates can make it impossible for challengers to lodge a compliant ticket.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem: tenure, reforms and scrutiny
Ben Sulayem, a former 14-time Middle East Rally champion and long-time administrator, became the FIA’s first non-European president in December 2021 after succeeding Jean Todt. Since taking office he has positioned himself as an institutional reformer, presiding over a restructuring of F1’s race-control operations in 2022 and using the federation’s annual activity reports to argue that he inherited a body “in need of direction” and has since focused on financial stabilisation and governance processes.
On the regulatory side, Ben Sulayem’s first term will be defined by shepherding the 2026 Formula 1 ruleset to publication – a package built around active aerodynamics, a larger electrical deployment and revised vehicle dimensions – and by the final-mile politics that go with launching a new era.
The technical regulations were released by the FIA in June 2024 and presented publicly via F1’s official channels; they anchor the federation’s promise that the next cycle will be “more agile, competitive, safer and more sustainable.”
His presidency has not been short of flashpoints. In March 2024, after whistle-blower claims that he had interfered in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the certification of the Las Vegas event, the FIA’s Ethics Committee said it found no evidence of wrongdoing and cleared the president. Even so, the episode fuelled wider calls from teams and stakeholders for greater transparency around investigative processes.
A second running theme has been the limits of the FIA’s regulatory remit versus Formula One Management’s commercial power. Nowhere was that clearer than the Andretti–Cadillac saga: the FIA ran an expressions-of-interest process and approved Andretti’s bid, but F1’s commercial rights holder later published a detailed decision declining entry for 2025/26, citing competitive and value concerns as the sport moved into the 2026 rules cycle.
The episode crystallised an institutional tension that is likely to persist into Ben Sulayem’s next term unless the entry pathway is harmonised.
The FIA in the past year — and the themes that carry into 2026
Over the last 12 months the FIA has mixed headline regulatory work with internal housekeeping and global convening. The most consequential technical deliverable is the 2026 F1 package, released in June 2024, which the federation says will produce nimbler cars with more electric power and active aero.
Implementation risk and competitive balance will dominate the next 18 months as manufacturers and teams translate that framework into raceable machinery. FIA+1
Beyond F1, the World Rally Championship has been steadied after a period of uncertainty. In June 2024 the FIA signalled that Rally1 and Rally2 technical baselines would remain in place until the end of 2026, giving stakeholders a predictable runway while broader cost and safety debates continue.
Looking ahead to 2026, three management themes stand out.
- First, delivering the 2026 F1 regulations credibly is mission-critical to the FIA’s competitive legitimacy.
- Second, the federation will need to navigate its interface with F1’s commercial rights holder after the Andretti decision laid bare the divide between regulatory approval and commercial entry, a grey area that could resurface with future applicants.
- Third, continuing the work on consistency in non-F1 portfolios will be key to sustaining manufacturer engagement in tighter economic conditions.
