Tim Mayer is set to announce a campaign to become president of the FIA this year, RACER understands.
Confirmation is expected at the British Grand Prix, where a press conference has been called on Friday morning to announce a presidential candidate ahead of the elections that are scheduled for December. RACER understands it will be the former FIA senior steward Mayer who will be announcing his candidacy, with the American having left the governing body late last year.
At the time, Mayer told the BBC he had been sacked by one of president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s assist ants via text message, after having to represent the United States Grand Prix race organizers in a right of review hearing.
The 59-year-old son of former McLaren team principal Teddy Mayer has more than three decades of experience within motorsports, starting out in IndyCar and fulfilling multiple roles from a television producer to an organizer and official, going on to become senior vice president of racing operations at Champ Car.
Mayer also had a spell as chief operating officer of IMSA before becoming involved with the FIA as a race director and steward, taking on the role as one of the chairmen of the Formula 1 stewards in 2016. He had also been responsible for the organization of FIA championships in the United States.
Friday’s announcement is set to ensure there is opposition to current president Ben Sulayem, who confirmed in May he would be running for a second term. Ben Sulayem’s first four-year spell as FIA president has been beset by multiple departures of senior personnel and claims of a lack of transparency from both F1 drivers and some national motorsport bodies.
He has also been criticized for changes made to the FIA statutes, but has helped the governing body turn a profit in its recent accounts, after it made a significant loss in the final year before he was elected. One of the high-profile senior departures – former FIA secretary for motorsport Shaila-Ann Rao – also returned as an advisor to the president earlier this year.
