FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem feels that the governing body are on the "right track" with their work in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Speaking at the joint FIA and FIM Women in Motorsports Conference, Ben Sulayem reflected on his past as a rally driver as he stressed his view that men and women can have equal opportunities in motorsport. "I was a driver for 20 years and I think we took our sport for granted in a good way, that we never looked at there [being] a difference between men and women there," he told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I had a British female co-driver with me. We didn't win very much because the car was not good, but we never thought we [had] to go and do extra to have women [involved], because we were mixed together in the organisation side, [as well as with] the stewarding and drivers, co-drivers, marshaling. "Now, it's not an issue, it's just we have to update it. We have to use more communication and [reach out] to people."
FIA President praises 'positive outcome' of work
Ben Sulayem has reiterated that the aim is to give people opportunities in various areas, not just driving. "It's not only about women and men, or skin colour or religion," he explained. "We have to use it as a tool to embrace and bring more opportunity, and it's also not about driving. It's about also engineering." In June 2022, the FIA announced the appointment of Tanya Kutsenko to the role of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Advisor following on from Ben Sulayem's commitment to the area as part of his election manifesto. As such, he feels confident that this is a step in the right direction and that the results so far have been positive. "We have a proper officer there, and we are reaching to people," Ben Sulayem said. "And it's not a noise. I always tell people, when you talk about diversity, kindly don't make it as a noise. [It is not a] tool that you [use] because it's politically right to do it. "No, we use it as a tool to expand our reach, and I am confident that we are doing that [and that we are on] the right track, because the outcome is very, very positive, especially that we are linking and bridging our disciplines when it comes to motorsport."
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