In the round-up: FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been branded “deeply discourteous and unprofessional” by a member of the UK House of Lords.
In brief
Ben Sulayem branded ‘unprofessional’ by UK peer for ‘ignoring’ human rights concerns
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has drawn the ire of Liberal Democrat MP Lord Scriven after the FIA president allegedly failed to respond to a letter raising human rights concerns over F1 racing in Gulf states.
Lord Scriven was one of 90 European politicians who wrote to the FIA president last year over concerns that the governing body was “facilitating sportswashing” in Gulf states such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates due to their human rights records. In a follow-up letter sent to Ben Sulayem, Lord Scriven accused him of being “deeply discourteous and unprofessional”.
“Why do you think you can ignore parliamentarians?,” Lord Scriven was reported by the Independent to have written. “Do you think that concerns raised over human rights and the policies of the FIA should be above scrutiny?
“We wrote to you in order to raise concerns that are in the public interest, and we expect openness and transparency from the FIA. For the sake of clarity, I still expect to receive a response to our letter.”
F1 extends TV deal with beIN Sports across Asia
F1 fans cross ten Asian territories will have to subscribe to beIN Sports to watch the next three seasons after F1 signed an exclusive deal with the Qatar broadcaster.
The deal sees beIN Sports hold exclusive rights to show all F1 sessions until 2025 across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.
O’Ward’s 2023 IndyCar revealed
McLaren have unveiled the livery of the car in which Pato O’Ward will compete in this year’s IndyCar season.
O’Ward will be one of three drivers races for at McLaren in the 2023 IndyCar Series, racing alongside 2022 team mate Felix Rosenqvist and joined by new recruit Alexander Rossi, whose livery for this season has already been unveiled.
O’Ward finished seventh in last year’s championship standings on 480 points, taking two victories at Barber and in the second Iowa race.
Forza Motorsport to feature 500 cars for 2023 release
Microsoft’s long-awaited next Forza Motorsport game will feature over 500 cars and 20 environments when it launches later this year, developers Turn 10 have announced.
The eighth mainline title in…
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