Mayer Aiming to Bring “Forward-Looking” Change to FIA

Photo: FIA Forward

FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer has vowed to bring “forward-looking” change to the international motorsport and mobility governing body, while also not focusing almost entirely on Formula 1, as part of his push to revive struggling championships and also place an increased focus on emerging clubs and grassroots motorsport.

Mayer, a longtime FIA steward and motorsport executive, announced his bid against incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem on July 4, less than eight months after he was fired by Ben Sulayem via text message from his 15-year stint as a F1 steward.

The Atlanta resident, the son of McLaren co-founder Teddy Mayer, made a visit to the Interlagos paddock during the recent 6 Hours of Sao Paulo FIA World Endurance Championship round, ahead of December’s presidential election that will take place during the FIA General Assembly.

Votes will be cast by FIA member clubs, representing both the Sport and Mobility pillars of the organization, according to a statement from the FIA.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Mayer, who boasts 34 years in professional motorsport, said he felt now was the time to “give back” to the motorsport world following a successful career in various facets.

“Motor racing has been really good to me,” he said. “I’ve spent the last 15 years volunteering with the FIA, not just stewarding, which is obviously what I’m best known for, but also behind-the-scenes on lots of committees and working as a race director and training stewards and people.

“I’ve a deputy on the World Motor Sport Council for the last 15 years.

“All of this has brought me to the point where I had the opportunity in November. Obviously I had a very public dust-up with Mohammed… To be able to sit down and think, ‘What is it about working with the FIA that is satisfying to me?

“The answer is really service. I have the opportunity to give back to the FIA, to give back to motorsport, which has been so good to me and my family, and to really provide a legacy that I think is a little bit in jeopardy right now for the FIA.”

When asked what he thinks he can bring to the table, Mayer said “professional leadership.”

“I’ve been involved in the sanctioning bodies in the U.S., and in particular for sports car readers, I was involved with IMSA for many years. I’m involved in the WEC; I’m on the Endurance Commission and have been a steward here,” he said.

“I have that 34 years of what it takes to lead large groups of people, what it takes to have good governance in motorsport and what it takes to write the rules that are forward-looking and how we get people together.

“One of the things the ACO has done amazingly well here in the WEC is to work with manufacturers, work with stakeholders, work with investors and say, ‘What would you like to see with the future?’

“That’s what they’ve brought to the Endurance Commission, a ruleset that is really forward-looking and is road-relevant, is relevant to the product that the manufacturers want to bring in.

“It’s reasonably priced, relative to the technology. It’s certainly not cheap by any means but the manufacturers have bought into this formula.

“The FIA needs to take the lead in this kind of thing, not just letting our promoters do it. Whether it be in Formula 1, WEC, rally in particular, which is in dire straights right now. Rallycross, the same thing there.

“The FIA should be forward-looking and we should be planning ten years in advance.

“This is the experience that I bring to this. This is what I would drive, from a motorsport perspective.

“On the flip side, for the clubs, I also know what it takes to run low-cost motorsport. The FIA is very good at adding complexity, very bad at taking complexity away. Complexity equals cost.

“This is where there’s a fundamental failure.

“It’s just not in Mohammed’s wheelhouse to lead the organization in a way that reduces complexity, reduces cost, reduces the barriers to entry for minorities and people around the world where we desperately should be getting involved in motorsport.”

Mayer said he believes that the FIA could learn from the success of promoter partnerships that helped successfully launch the WEC, which in September, will reach its milestone 100th race.

“The history of sports car racing is maybe instructive,” he said. “We have been through boom-bust cycles.

“Somebody came up with a good idea, they promoted it, the championship, whatever it might be, from Group C to pick a formula in sports cars, it’s launched like a rocket and crashed like a rocket.

“I think what has changed is that the concerned parties, that includes IMSA and the ACO, have all sat around the table with the stakeholders and have come up with a long-term plan that everybody can buy into.

“That’s the big difference. That’s what has completely changed in the last 10-15 years in the cycle of inclusion with the American Le Mans Series, now the WeatherTech Championship and what the ACO has done with the World Endurance Championship.

“I was at the very first [WEC] race in Sebring. This has been a long road for the ACO, a long road for their partners at IMSA, but it’s one that prior planning has really paid off.

“The partnership that Jim France has brought, the partnership that Pierre Fillon has brought, that’s what is driving this championship.

“That what is desperately needed in all of the FIA’s championships, but also on the championships that the FIA supports, at the regional and sport club level.”

Mayer: “The President of the FIA is Not the President of F1”

With Ben Sulayem having reportedly only attended two WEC events since becoming FIA President in 2021, Mayer stressed that if elected, he would make sure attention is brought upon all FIA championships in a more equal basis.

“I hope my presence here [in Sao Paulo] speaks for itself,” he said. “I really believe in partnerships. I’ve been a member of the Endurance Commission for a long time now. Sports car racing is a passion of mine, although I grew up in Formula 1.

“To me, the President of the FIA is not the President of F1. The job of the President of the FIA is to be a good partner with the various promoters who have invested their money in these championships and to show up all of the world championships, not just Formula 1.

“Formula 1 has a lot of cameras and that’s fine if that’s your thing. To me, it’s about getting together whenever we can, bringing attention to these world championships, in particular championships that are struggling.

“The good news is that WEC is doing well. It doesn’t need any help from the President of the FIA really, in terms of that.

“But sometimes showing up is half the battle.

“I plan on continuing to show up at WEC races whether I win or lose because this is a passion. I love the people, I love the cars that are here. This is a fantastic area of the sport.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John