In the round-up: FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has denied accusations of sexism and dismissed criticism of the governing body’s handling of the controversial 2021 championship decider.
In brief
Ben Sulayem responds to sexism allegations
A comment made on the FIA president’s former official website, mohammedbensulayem.com, was republished earlier this year in a newspaper article. It said Ben Sulayem does not “women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth”. He was subsequently accused by another newspaper of sexism and bullying.
Ben Sulayem, whose also suffered the death of his son Saif earlier this year, said: “The attack on me earlier this year was inhuman, with the tragedy that I had,” he told the Press Association. He believes he is being targeted “Because I am doing the right thing.”
He also defended the decision not to alter the result of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after race director Michael Masi failed to follow the FIA’s rules while arranging a final-lap restart in which the outcome of the world championship changed.
He drew comparison to the England’s victory against West Germany in the 1966 football World Cup final, in which the winners’ penultimate goal was disputed: “Was that correct? Did they change it? No.’ Did they give it to Germany? Nein.”
Formula E revises its Berlin track
Berlin is the only city to have hosted a race in every Formula E season since the championship’s creation in 2014, and next year there will be a revised layout of the circuit based at Tempelhof Airport.
The layout used for the inaugural Berlin EPrix in 2015 was not retained for the following year, since the race relocated to a street circuit based around Karl-Marx-Allee, and when FE returned to Tempelhof in 2017 it used a significantly differently layout that has also been run in reverse for races since 2020. That year the city hosted a triple-header of races, and the third one used the regular layout but with extra corners added to the middle sector.
For 2024 the start/finish straight and pit lane will be relocated to where the back straight was, and there will be 15 rather than the usual 10 corners as several of the longer sweeps have been broken up to feature multiple apexes. As a result the track will be 210 metres longer
Australian F4 to be revived next year
Australia’s Formula 4 championship is set to be relaunched in 2024 with a five-round season that includes races abroad.
The nation’s motorsport governing…
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