FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has told the F1 drivers it is "none of their business" how he runs his organisation.
Ben Sulayem has responded to the swirl of negative publicity around him and the FIA in the wake of several high-profile situations in recent months, notably the recent departure of FIA race director Niels Wittich. It has been claimed he was sacked.
Wittich has been followed swiftyl out of the door by Tim Mayer, a leading steward, and Janette Tan, who was Formula 2 race director.
Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, had called for clarity ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix as to "what's going on".
But a defiant Ben Sulayem, speaking to Reuters, said: "Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams change, do they tell us?
"We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don't follow someone else's rule. Simple as this.
"Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy? It's none of their business. Sorry...I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race."
Ben Sulayem said 64 employees had joined the FIA in 2023 and 92 in 2024.
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Ben Sulayem provides financial clarity
Another contentious issue surrounds Ben Sulayem's clampdown on swearing, which saw four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen ordered to serve a form of community punishment for using the f-word in an official FIA press conference ahead of the Singapore GP.
The GPDA issued a statement in November in which they informed Ben Sulayem they are adults and deserve to be treated as such, and that he should "also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise".
Further transparency was requested as to how the FIA spends the money from fines collected from the drivers.
Ben Sulayem retorted: "They talk and then they say, 'Where are you putting the money? Why we don't do this?' I don't say, 'Oh, sorry, what about you?
"The drivers are getting over 100 million. Do I ask where they spend it? No. It's up to them. It's their right. We do whatever we do with the money. It's our business. It's also with them and their money. It's their business."
Offering insight into how the money is dispersed, Ben Sulayem said €10.3 million had been invested in grassroots single-seater racing last year.
"You really think I would waste the money?" he queried. "This is not commercial. This is the money of the members, and I have been elected to safeguard that.
"I have been elected to fix the FIA, and I am fixing it. I am very happy with our new team. Very happy.
"I inherited an FIA with an operating cost of minus 23 million euros And where is it now? This will be the first year that we are plus."
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