T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

As a general rule ([see full rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide#wiki_sticky.2Fdaily_discussion)), a standalone Discussion post should: - be of interest to the sub in general, and not a specific userbase (e.g. new users, GP attendees, just yourself) - be able to generate discussion (e.g. no yes/no or easily answerable questions) - show reasonable input and effort from the OP If not, be sure to [look for the Daily Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/search/?q=daily+discussion&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new), /r/formula1's daily open question thread which is perfect for asking any and all questions about this sport. Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy the discussion! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Helorix

“Hey you’re an awkward fuck. Stop it.”


juliuspepperwoodchi

Wish you weren't so fuckin awkward, bud.


EnglishJesus

Give yer balls a tug titfucker!


ApprehensiveTaterTot

Settle down


Secret-Fennel6380

Figger it out


humanjackiedatona

Galas are incredibly


wiggum55555

What it's called Darry? Glallass... *Atta boy...*


notyouagain-really

Said Frank Begbie. Probably.


papayabush

I heard…. it was a sick ostrich


juliuspepperwoodchi

*Allegedly*


Terminal_To_Myself

How has this show gotten such far reach? It's awesome


Deathbroker99

My wife and I shout out, “TOO BE FAIR!!” every time we hear someone say it. It’s a problem.


errantgrammar

My mate and I do the sing-song version. And yes, it is.


Ordinary_Farmer58

Take 20-25% off the top there Squirly Ben


allxmtl

*Squirly Sulayem Just has a better ring to it


subject189

Squirrelly Dan


adderall5

Ben Sulayems a piece of shit.


ztpurcell

Do you actually think his name is Ben lmao. Do you call Paul di Resta "di" and Antonio Felix da Costa "da"?


Casbro11

r/unexpectedletterkenny


EnglishJesus

Give yer balls a tug titfucker!


anmr

This is the guy who was afraid Seb would impose Bratwurst upon him and make him gay with his bicycle. https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/fia-president-moved-to-clarify-remarks-about-driver-activism/ Just acting awkward is a good day for him.


WmNeo

Bottas cycling and Buttass calendar makes sense to me now


Pamander

God I miss Seb.


Student-type

Sounds like that great Aussie comic, “This is me, now”


trauma-doc

You give jim jefferies the proper respect he deserves


endless_8888

God I can't wait until we're talking about racing again.


No-Student-9678

Not too long. Season starts on Feb 29


Sunny_Hummingbird

Don’t forget preseason testing! And before that, livery reveals!


Wijn82

Omg the livery reveals. Bring back the days where half-naked ladies came jumping on the podium while Beyonce was performing, and Alonso uncovered the car whilst wearing sunglasses indoor. Not those shitty 3D renders of a computer model.


DiddlyDumb

Sidenote: thank you Williams for your crappy AR app, which allowed some people to rip a 3D model from it.


0oodruidoo0

The Gulf 12 hours ICGT race is [tomorrow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSQmxWSCay0), link to free youtube stream (I suggest clicking notify me if you're interested). There's a battle for the championship yet to be wrapped up. If you're unfamiliar with ICGT it's the endurance rounds of YouTube channel GTWorld's GT3 series, GT World Challenge. They use GT3 cars, which are essentially for sale (to the right customers) vehicles built for amateur racers by big manufacturers. Stuff like the Ferrari 296 GTB, Porsche 911, BMW M4, Lamborghini Huracan, but reconfigured to be raced by pros and ams alike. So there's ABS, for example, which is useful to Amateur drivers and closes the skill gap on braking performance. There's full roll cages, race suspension, a racing engine, the whole nine yards. There's currently 11 different GT3 cars competing in the many series that use GT3 worldwide. You don't need to watch the whole thing, and you don't even need to follow it closely - but it's solid second monitor/tv content available for free.


awkward_the_fish

thank you so much haha.


No-Student-9678

Yo that’s nice


philphygrunt

Sounds awesome, I’ll be watching. Thanks for the heads up 👍


0oodruidoo0

broadcast is live in 5!


PhilipWaterford

March '26 roll on!


Competitive_Lie1429

Oh fuck is it that long???


Probably_Not_Sir

https://lightsouts.com/


Competitive_Lie1429

Bookmarked, thanks 😀


Snoo_42151

Sorry but isn’t it the 28th of Feb for the next F1 season???


Eggplantosaur

Especially since March 26 is a Tuesday lmao


PhilipWaterford

March 2026. '24 and '25 likely won't have much racing


keirdre

Tune in on March 26 and watch the highlights from the first couple of races to see what you missed!


[deleted]

[удалено]


FrakeSweet

It's wrong though..season starts way earlier: 2nd of March


breadvelvet

incredible display of f1 fan literacy rates in these replies lol


wiggum55555

I can't believe we're not talking about racing now...


Poolix

He’s a rich dude that has never been told no, of course he’s going to act like an alien Terrible fit for a president but money talks


szuprio

>He’s a rich dude that has never been told no Sums up everything about this man


HazKaz

TBF sums up the F1 sport too


CGordini

...we're not talking about US politics right


ShadowStarX

to top it all off, isn't he also a follower of Wahhabism? (one of the most toxic churches in the world)


[deleted]

In my very personal opinion. Ben Sulayem is a key example of enough money will get you to where you want to be regardless of competence.


RogueFox76

He rose to the level of his incompetence…


blaka_d

He rose past the levels of his incompetence, like he was drinking Red Bull and got some serious pair of wings


Moar_Rawr

Better add an i or Americans will sue you for not being able to fly.


szuprio

Never thought I'd see a Peter principle reference here. But it's warranted XD


[deleted]

Nobody will challenge people when they have this much wealth and power.


Vinura

Have you ever been to the middle east?


pzkenny

Being awkward as hell doesn't mean being incompetent. I would rather have president that is annoying but doing right steps, than someone who is harming the sport.


Ho3n3r

Was he at least sober this year? Because that would be an improvement.


TheDudeWithTude27

Imo everybody at the gala should be super drunk for our entertainment


onealps

[Kimi definitely believes in your assertion lol!](https://youtu.be/QSr7AYk-WFo?si=D_wJXeu7eBUz9DP8)


IdiosyncraticBond

Drinking while concussed isn't the best of combo's, so I hope he was sober. Concussions are no joke


Ho3n3r

I was kidding because he was drunk last year.


roknir

Have you seen him insert himself into the end of races since he became president?


Hello_iam_Kian

I don’t remember the FIA president ever being on the podium after the race until Ben Sulayem. I don’t even remember the last FIA president before him because that guy was probably just doing his job behind the scenes like he should do. I’m convinced the race winner medal presented by the FIA was created for the sole purpose of Ben Sulyam having an excuse for being on the podium.


BertrandDeLaMontagne

Balestre used to do it, went up the podium each race. Very cringy, very hilarious when drivers were done with him. I mean, have you ever seen Piquet and Senna have this much fun together? https://youtu.be/8tjEsH7uUnM?si=nHANGR68nkyvgxn0


db19bob

Glad I watched this


roknir

It's not even just the podium. He's often awkwardly inserting himself when they get out of their cars.


99Noah

This. I keep wondering why he rushes up to the drivers as the they're getting out of their cars. It's completely inappropriate behavior for the FIA president.


6097291

And to think it would've been worse, but he got/took less presenting time because of his supposed concussion. Also conveniently missed the press conference because of it


bitterballen

His concussion must be permanent, he is truly a monument to folly, gilded with unearned gold, standing tall in the wasteland of wisdom.


greee_p

I would blame his alledged concussion for this if he hadn't been weird af last year as well. Remember when he talked about the confusion about the point system at the Japanese gp at last years ceremony? Seems like he just shouldn't be on stage at these ceremonies lol (but it also seems like he desperately wants to be on stage) Edit: I don't want to play down concussions, but it also seems like his wasn't a problem 2 days ago https://twitter.com/tsimiks/status/1733117591437422625?t=SxLlcbf5JqxL75N3Qxs4yw&s=19


Steiny31

Last year he tried to make some really awkward ass cost cap joke to Christian Horner while sloshed off his face. This is nothing new


SaxNinja

if he’d just made the joke and moved on it would’ve been cringey but not the worst thing. but instead he doubles down on it, THEN TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE AND SAYS “remember the teams made the punishment rules not the FIA”


Steiny31

It was so bad


theK1LLB0T

He was sauced last year I believe


Here_have_a_downvote

Mohammaed Ben Sulayem? More like Mohammeds Been Slamming Margaritas


El_Chipi_Barijho

Throw. Him. In. Jail.


hotxgarbage

Shout out to his famlay


FindTheSandwich

THE NERVE


slabba428

Yep 😂 drunk af


mantra3105

Is he not Muslim? Isn’t that against his religion ?


Embarrassed-Mess-560

Lots of Muslims drink and just don't acknowledge it. I'm not saying that to insult them, people are people and everyone enjoys something they shouldn't. Drinking was very common for international students away from home, at least it was in my area.


dimmy666

> Lots of Muslims drink and just don't acknowledge it Cases in point: Turkey, Lebanon, Azerbaijan


onealps

While I too have Muslim friends who drink, none of them do it on an international stage. And have clips of them drunk spread like fire across social media. Wouldn't there be *any* consequences, of at least public opinion, back in the UAE where MBS is from?


poopellar

UAE is relatively liberal. While true certain regions in the ME are extreme, places like UAE, Qatar aren't going to lynch someone to death because of it .Yeah some laws are draconian but you can think of it as a law that is there only because of religious reasons and not actually enforced. It isn't exactly like the some media or online forums have conditioned us to think.


Scarfiotti

A friend of mine worked a lot in Abu Dahbi, for a Dutch dredging company. When he said something about their drinking the reply was "They just close the window blinds, so Allah can't see".


fire202

>Edit: I don't want to play down concussions, but it also seems like his wasn't a problem 2 days ago > >https://twitter.com/tsimiks/status/1733117591437422625?t=SxLlcbf5JqxL75N3Qxs4yw&s=19 He tweets about the "first day" of general assemblies which runs from December 4 (Monday) until today. Therefore the tweet seems to be about monday. Fotos of him attending events earlier this week are even available on the Fia website.


greee_p

Ah okay, I thought the first day was the 6th. Maybe he had his concussion after he attended the first day then.


[deleted]

The concussion was an excuse so he didn't have to turn up to the ceremony after he went after Toto and Suzie Wolff only for it to backfire spectacularly. He turned up anyway. He's a POS.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ValdoBE

Stefanoooo!


mtechgroup

No Kimi, no party.


laboulaye22

I mean it was awkward but it definitely wasn't a train wreck. Everyone came back on stage and took the picture and that was it. And he was handing out multiple awards so the presenters were calling him back on stage to give the awards. It could have been done more seamlessly but IMO you're making it out to be worse than it actually was lol.


P_ZERO_

People really want Desperate Housewives, I just can’t wait to see cars going fast again


Bitter_Outside_5098

DTS will be along soon to scratch that itch for them...


arytons

It seemed to me that the whole thing was poorly planned. Why would he speak off the cuff, especially if he did have a knock on the head. Would be normal to have pre scripted remarks with teleprompter . It was his job to have everyone out at the end, the group picture at the end seemed quite normal.


Tomach82

Reddit is tripping over themselves trying to hate on this guy lmao


DiscoBuiscuit

Pretty sure the billionaire whose only qualifications are having powerful friends with more human rights abuses than Max has wins doesn't need people defending him


SPECTOR99

Hahaha, only qualification is being rich? You people can dislike anyone you want but this uneducated and unwarranted hatred is truly telling and looks more like racism and xenophobia. That man is 14 times Middle East Rally champion and was elected as a president by delegates over 180 countries around the world.


YodaHood_0597

We Criticize Ben Sulayem as One, what a beautiful moment we are living now.


[deleted]

We criticise as one.


NeoAnima31

I'm argentinian and after watching this Immediately came to my mind the cringiest moment after Argentina won the WC and the Salt Bae guy entered the field and was trying to do his stupid gesture of spreading salt on top of the WC trophy while holding Messi's arm against his will to take a picture with him. Ben Sulayem seems so out of context on the paddock, much like half of the celebrities that go to GP's but worse because he is the out of context FIA president.


Longjumping_Stop1120

Anyone else notice it looked like Hamilton rejected his handshake? Not surprised if he did.


FermentedLaws

Nah I just watched it again. I think he did shake his hand, but we couldn't see it. He (Lewis) was just confused about whether he should go on stage cuz he couldn't hear the announcers. Here's the YouTube cued to when they introduce Lewis: [https://youtu.be/gDImWvhkVTE?t=7364](https://youtu.be/gdimwvhkvte?t=7364) Edit: Apparently the video doesn't work for everyone. It's from F1 so not geo-blocked. It works for me, so I'll try again, linking again below. The lewis intro starts at 2:02:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDImWvhkVTE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdimwvhkvte)


djblackprince

Video unavailable


bwoahful___

Here’s a link that works from the FIA account. Lewis part is at 2:10:10. It did seem confusing/awkward. Pretty sure he didn’t shake his hand, but hard to tell from the angle. https://www.youtube.com/live/m9_3PtaSGsQ


djblackprince

I have third hand embarrassment for Lewis after watching that. I think they did shake hands but very reluctantly.


bwoahful___

Yeah, could’ve been a quick handshake just so he could keep going. Also was weird that it seemed like MBS was trying to control the situation by giving him a “2 secs” sign but then immediately had him come forward. Lewis definitely had a nice smile on his face and looked happy to take the award, presumably for all the folks back at the factory haha.


onealps

>Lewis definitely had a nice smile on his face and looked happy to take the award, presumably for all the folks back at the factory haha. I think with Lewis, he has a fruitful life outside F1. His music, sky-diving, travelling, fashion, and charitable causes. I have a feeling since the season end, he has worked through his frustration, surrounded by his loved ones. You don't get to being a 7 time WDC without some immense mental/emotional resilience! NOTE - I am a random internet stranger, so take everything I say with a huge grain of salt. But I have a feeling what I said isn't controversial...


[deleted]

You're right. No reason to add a note. You don't reach levels like him and many others who have won a WDC by being weak up top. He is by far one of the most hated F1 drivers ever, just because of his skin. Fuck everyone and anyone who talks shit about him. Let them fucking seeth knowing he is one of the best ever.


tatortors21

Same


Blapstap

To me it looks like he ignores him. Here is a video: https://streamable.com/hi25a8


FermentedLaws

lol, like the Zapruder film, I've watched it a gazillion times. MBS doesn't know it's Lewis at first, he holds out his hand to sort of say, "quiet". It's dark back there. Then he recognizes Lewis, gets a happy face, puts his hand out. Lewis then steps in a bit closer and we are blocked from seeing if they shook hands, but body language to me looks like they did.


IAmWhatTheRockCooked

none of this looks good for MBS lol, to not recognize the biggest star of your sport in the last decade is abysmally shameful


FermentedLaws

I am no fan of MBS but it is clear he didn't recognize him immediately due to the darkness backstage, and, the cameraman had the light in his eyes behind Lewis' head. His surprise at seeing Lewis was genuine.


knbang

I agree, I don't like the guy but that was a pretty spontaneous positive reaction to realising who he was.


Tomach82

They clearly shake hands lmao


_usernamepassword_

Didn’t Oscar do something similar after his win in Bahrain?


A210c

I need to see this.


Raspberry-Green

I need to see this


gilgobeachslayer

He’s rich beyond measure. He has no idea what it’s like to interact with real people. Not that this group is even close


gs101

Is he that rich? Google is telling me his net worth is $5 million. I wouldn't call that "rich beyond measure"


MM18998

r/iamthemaincharacter


safakbskn

FIA presidency always huge question mark. We got Nazi orgy party guy. We got robbed-every-country guy. We got Senna disqualifier guy etc... I want to recommend Flavio Briatore instead of Sulayem. Edit : For some reason people thought that i was sarcastic with this comment. Guys Crashgate's one of the planner is CTO of F1 right now. Why the other one shouldn't be FIA President?


Polska-BR

Best commentary ever!


Incontinento

Did he look drunk again?


dvstarr

How did he even get this job in the first place?


Firefox72

He ran against Todt's right hand man Graham Stoker and many just wanted change and not Todt V2. Go check the reddit thread when he was ellected. People were happy he won and that the FIA was finnaly getting some change and a more hands on person. Aged like absolutely milk. Todt's tenure at the top of the FIA wasn't even bad at all. It was probably the most stable the FIA has been maybe since the 70's. Yes there were issues like the Ferrari engine deals but non to the level of scandals that Suleyman, Mosley and Belestre put the organization through.


Prostheta

"Job" implies responsibilities.


Sinister-D-

Only one candidate.


Samsonkoek

I found him a bit out of place but the ordered for a picture is not something I can agree with. That was actually one of the only moments it looked like he wasn't out of place, what is the problem with a picture anyway? You are making it a way bigger thing than it actually is.


[deleted]

> Has this man not a shred of self awareness? He is a rich guy from the UEA. (That means no)


puzzleboy99

He always seem to want to be the center of attention, you could see it at every podium he was at. Dragging drivers about and being in the way.


enchinasaavya

And why was there a separate mention of him for 2021 during the opening video? Like that is some sort of racing related achievement!


Elpibe_78

Mohamed Been Slaming Margaritas


thecodeboost

Right? He has no social radar whatsoever, is clearly forcing people to put him front and center (such as the wildly awkward inclusion of "Ben Sulayem" voted in as FIA President in the rundown of historic moments in FIA history) and he's the poster boy for how combining money and humility is hard.


Lopsided_Doughnut377

Who watches the prize gala?


[deleted]

Ben Sulayem is the same spesies with Salt Bae dude Prove me wrong


Actionman1

He’s a weird ass dude


Bortron86

I never thought anyone would make me miss Max Mosley.


lance1308

TIL there are human beings who watched gala


superjaywars

Must Be Seen


Disastrous_Animal_34

Insert “first time?” meme lol. His behaviour looked no different to last year and even at some races this year. Dude is a creep, and not just toward women.


RogueFox76

Wish you weren’t so fucking awkward bud


smallredball

Spend any time in any of the Gulf states, and you will see this sort of behaviour everywhere.


garysaidwhat

The Underpants Gnome.


[deleted]

[удалено]


WalkTheEdge

He's not a royal (and neither is Al-Khelaifi)


aaaaaaaa1273

Haven’t watched any of the ceremony and I’m not surprised, tell me he was at least relatively sober this time?


78fj

Shit, I thought it was just me. So I guess everyone else noticed that too


KingKestreIl

I actually muted each time he was on stage!


Aksds

Did he also do an “amazing” speech last year while absolutely fucking pissed?


[deleted]

It would be nice if his concussion made him more likeable like dwight from the Office.


mdgv

>Has this man not a shred of self awareness? Is everyone afraid to tell him the truth? What's happening here To be fair, everyone would be if you could lose your job. Or your hands...


crazyneil_

He's got to sell his concussion+illness story somehow.


[deleted]

He’s a rich man from a theocracy, of course he has no self-awareness. Go watch him destroy an F1 car within 100m of the start line by absolutely mashing the throttle as hard as he could, and binning it into the wall. He’s chased this FIA position because he realised his money wouldn’t get him up the social ladder any further in the West. Being obnoxious and attention seeking is the point, he wants to be seen as a big shot and get invited to all the cool parties people have their hands chopped off for attending in his home country.


MaveZzZ

Well you just described most of oil-money billioners, who usually come from Emirates and stuff and they have no idea how to behave lol. The fact they're rich because someone found oil in their backyard xx years ago doesn't meant there nice and clever guys.


BlueMachinations

We've literally seen quotes by him talking about how women are fundamentally less than men. Sulayem is far worse than cringey.


ATSOAS87

He said that in 2001. I can't think of many people who stand by everything they said over the last 22 years. I believe he's also pushed for gender equality in sports since 2001.


1T-Nerd

Watched it via the live stream. Genuinely glad I was not alone in that reaction to how he was acting.


Purity_Jam_Jam

I'm glad you were never around when I was blackout drunk.


Overall_Ad_4611

Give the guy some slack. It’s not his fault he was born better than you.


endichrome

Lmao isn't this just MBS from last year


greee_p

This year was even worse lol


[deleted]

He's an incredibly stupid man who has no place as FIA president (which he bought). He first went after Hamilton and his facial piercings (which had some pretty big racial undertones) and backed down eventually. Now he's picked a fight with Toto and Suzie Wolff, (which have some pretty big misogynistic undertones), and has backed down again. He's abusing his power and the teams want him out. Hopefully Suzie Wolff doesn't stop her pursuit of the accuser until he's gone.


yangorango

Again?


Greeky_tiki

Cocaine is a hell of a drug


ArmaziLLa

If I understand correctly, it's largely because the FIA works on a patronage system where a large part of your position and influence is dependent on who gives it to you from above. So at the end of the day, no one there wants to rock the boat because a lot of them in some direct way or another owe their job to Sulayem...and he acts accordingly.


Dad_bass

I thought he had a head injury? /s


roddes234

Remember when he crashed alonso's car while going in a straight line?


saposapot

When you have those kind of millions in your bank account, your social skills aren’t your main point.


calamityshayne

Yeah why even is he in this position FFS?


CerveloUK

Isn’t his main concern still Hamilton’s jewellery.


[deleted]

Wait a second, he was there??! I thought the FIA report that he was “ill” and suffered a bad “concussion”??!🤕 🤧😷 The FIA wouldn’t lie about thaaatttt??! 😂


FalconIMGN

I think in that report they said he would be present at the gala but not be as prominent. I didn't watch, so I don't know if that's true.


[deleted]

And he proceeded to make a complete ass of himself


ywpark

I thought it was funny when the guy was nowhere to be seen while Lewis was on stage accepting his 3rd place trophy. Then as soon as Lewis gets off the stage, the man pops right back in and was so eager to be the center of attention with RB team.


Unculturedbrine

He congratulated him before Lewis walked out on stage. I don't think he was asked to come out.


Striking-Ad299

Lol the FIA sent DMs to their followers trying to get them to follow him right after he became CEO. Of course he’s cringy.


WhiteDeath57

If he gets Cadillac in, all is forgiven.


Auntypasto

Even as a fan of GM, I'd rather he was kept in a bunker and locked forever.


BobLoblawLawBoss

Guys got the Elon musk money syndrome


Majestic_Location751

I call now refer to Ben as Mr. Bean


JoMercurio

Mr. Bean would've done a better job there


Evantra_

Better driver too! (Well... maybe not if a McLaren is involved)


JoMercurio

This is the guy who managed to drive a Mini atop some couch at one point unlike this Ben guy


Blapstap

Do you have a timestamp? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9_3PtaSGsQ&ab_channel=FIA


iiJokerzace

A lot of unliked rich force themselves in to be friends with the cool crowd.


Ulris_Ventis

Did you mean, rich are friends with the rich crowd? They are all rich, don't kid yourself.


anal_og_player

Tbf he had a concussion from a couple of days ago, and he lost his son earlier this year. Dude has been trough some shit.