F1MONACO GRAND PRIX F1 Fans Fume Over FIA President Ben Sulayem’s Shocking ‘Opinion’ on …

F1 is a global sport. With the huge fandom the sport has amassed, it has become a platform. Standing atop this platform are the drivers who are always the focal point of F1.

From personal to political, everyone has an opinion they can share given the right platform. The drivers sometimes use this platform to bring to our attention the causes they care about.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem spoke about the power of the platform in an exclusive interview.

The FIA president sat down with journalist Agnes Carlier during the Monaco GP weekend for an in-depth interview. He addressed multiple agendas- his ideas about how the future should shape up, the stands drivers take now, and how it affects the sport.

While addressing the influence of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, the president said, “Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving. Now, Vettel drives a rainbow bicycle, Lewis is passionate about human rights and Norris addresses mental health. Everybody has the right to think. To me, it is about deciding whether we should impose our believes in something over the sport all the time.”

Mohammed Ben Sulayem used the jewelry ban as an example and added, “But do I go and pose my beliefs? No. The rules are there, even now there are issues when it comes to – for example- jewellery, I didn’t write that.”

F1MONACO GRAND PRIX F1 Fans Fume Over FIA President Ben Sulayem’s Shocking ‘Opinion’ on …

Hamilton, Vettel, and Norris are among the few drivers that have used their status to bring light to certain issues.

The interview, after being published quickly, caught the eyes of the F1 Twitter fandom. Users on Twitter took his comments with a pinch of salt.

what, and i mean this sincerely, the actual FUCK is this ???

how do you manage to be homophobic, racist, and against mental health all in one sentence?

no words.

human rights aren’t religious beliefs that people choose to have, they’re RIGHTS, that people need and deserve. pic.twitter.com/3EQN5PHzSO

— molly 🐆 (@formulaonegf) June 7, 2022

Those Ben Sulayem quotes I think really sum up how deep the problems we fight in motorsport go – all the way to the very very top.

— amelia 🏁🏳️‍🌈 (@formulaAMELIA) June 7, 2022

Ben Sulayem is a walking, talking PR disaster. He really needs some better advisors… #F1 https://t.co/NbM2sH5ROo

— Rob Myers (@RobLMyers) June 7, 2022

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem is trying so hard to be a villain, and he's succeeding

— pfizer pfine (@cozsihlesaidso) June 5, 2022

Safe to say the Twitter fandom did not take too kindly to the words of the FIA president, but there are always two sides to the story.

We see some rationality as well. It’s a mixed bag of emotions on Twitter.

that Ben Sulayem interview is appallingly edited, very badly written up. I am willing to bet some of it is not very well transcribed. idk what he really thinks but it can't be that, frankly. (he's not that incoherent)

— Hazel Southwell (@HSouthwellFE) June 7, 2022

I'm sorry Mohammed Ben Sulayem is perfectly entitled to his views and beliefs but if F1 drivers want to stand against global injustice or use their mental health experience as a force for good, they should. If he has an issue with that he shouldn't head the FIA. https://t.co/NjfO32I3mi

— Tom Donnelly-Sutton 🔶️🇬🇧🇪🇪🇺🇦⚪🔴 (@PushTheSutton) June 7, 2022

am I misinterpreting or does it sound like ben sulayem dislikes drivers sharing their opinions on politics and human rights? pic.twitter.com/gS3dnT5lxg

— no⁴⁴ (@worldchamp44) June 7, 2022

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the president of FIA is not an exception. The perception of that opinion, however, differs from person to person, and here is Twitter proving the sentence correct.