Ben Sulayem warns no forgiveness if Hamilton breached rules

New FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says there can be “no forgiveness” if Lewis Hamilton breached rules by not peekaboo the FIA Prize Giving Gala, but wants time to unriddle the situation surpassing jumping to conclusions.

Hamilton and team principal Toto Wolff did not shepherd Thursday’s event in Paris without stuff left “disillusioned” in Wolff’s words by the handling of the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday that saw Hamilton miss out on the drivers’ championship. The pair were required to be present based on FIA regulations, and Ben Sulayem — who has raced in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship — says the matter will need dealing with if there has been a breach.

“First of all, as a suburbanite I finger emotional but at the end of the day rules are rules so we are going to squint into the side where it is… rules are there to be employed,” Ben Sulayem said. “Was he in breach? I have to squint into it. I was definitely excited well-nigh the election, there was the judges who were there (in Abu Dhabi), the stewards who were handling it, the FIA is taking superintendency of it, but I will definitely squint if he was in breach.

“Of undertow we have to be pursuit our rules, but in the meanwhile it doesn’t stop us from making a champion finger good well-nigh the sport. It’s easy to be nice to people — it’s unseemly to be nice, and moreover to motivate people, but definitely if there is any violate there is no forgiveness in this.

“I unchangingly say, rules are not made, humans made them — they are not the bible or any holy typesetting or something, they are made by humans and can be improved and reverted by humans. So rules are there to be improved.

“I know that Lewis is really sad well-nigh what happened and one word I would say is he is broken, but we have to squint if there was any breach. I cannot just (decide), a few hours now into stuff president and just started giving answers without going when to the facts.”

Ben Sulayem says he will waif all other responsibilities to focus on the FIA presidency and try to ensure motorsport’s governing soul has a strong reputation, and when asked whether Michael Masi has a future as race director moving forward, the new president said it’s too soon for him to make such a decision.

“I’m just newly elected. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the staff — I’ll squint into every single matter that can modernize the FIA or if there’s an issue well-nigh it, but I definitely wouldn’t just jump into conclusions or decisions without going when to my team.”