FIA President adopts more hands-off role to F1 operations

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem will be taking a more hands-off approach to F1 operations ahead of the new season. The approach means handing over the day-to-day contact on Formula 1 matters to new Chief Executive Officer Natalie Robyn, who was appointed to the position in September last year . RacingNews365.com understands a letter was addressed to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and copied to all 12 Formula 1 Team Principals, outlining the changes. These were viewed as the next step following Ben Sulayem's first year in office as FIA President, as outlined in his election manifesto. President Ben Sulayem is still set to be involved in key decisions and strategic matters, while FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis will run the day-to-day F1 operations in the FIA following the recent restructure to the Single-Seater department . The news comes after a spate of controversy between the governing body and F1 over the rumoured sale of the commercial rights to Saudi Arabia. Tensions increased when F1 issued a legal letter to the governing body warning over 'inflated valuation' comments , after Ben Sulayem sent a series of social media messages regarding any sale rumours . However these controversies are unrelated to his change of role, having been in the planning for the first year of his presidency.