House of Lords peer slams “discourteous and unprofessional” Ben Sulayem

Paul Scriven, a Liberal Democrat life peer, accused Ben Sulayem of being “deeply discourteous and unprofessional” in his failure to respond to a letter originally sent in March 2022 which raised concerns over F1 races being held in the Gulf region.  

“Why do you think you can ignore parliamentarians?,” Scriven wrote in the letter. "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 dated 16 March 2022 and I am also making this letter open for the sake of transparency and public interest.”

Scriven also hit out at the FIA’s recent clampdown to stop drivers making political statements, which he claims specifically targets F1’s “most outspoken driver” Lewis Hamilton. 

"It was with great concern that I learnt of the FIA's decision to suppress F1 drivers' voices from speaking out in what you deem to be political statements, a policy that will serve to shield F1 host countries from scrutiny over injustice," Scriven continued.

"It is very clear to me that this policy targets Sir Lewis Hamilton, your most outspoken driver, whose comments on countries with abysmal rights records, particularly Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, would have undoubtedly not been well received by these corrupt and abusive regimes.”

Hamilton has since been urged by a Bahrain prisoner not to be ‘muzzled’ by the FIA’s revised regulation. 

It is the second angry letter Ben Sulayem has received this week, following F1’s explosive response to remarks he made about the sport’s valuation amid escalating tensions between the world championship and its governing body.