Carlos Sainz says his father is “seriously” weighing a run for FIA president, with interest from the Formula 1 paddock prompting him to explore the possibility.
Reports emerged last week that the two-time World Rally Champion was considering running as a candidate against the current president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The 63-year-old’s tenure has been marred by a series of controversies, including criticism from drivers over inconsistent officiating and the row over the use of profanity.
With this year’s FIA General Assembly coming up in December, Ben Sulayem’s position could be in jeopardy as the potential candidates for the role are soon revealed.
Ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Williams driver was asked about his father’s intentions to run for FIA presidency.
The Spaniard simply stated that, as far as he knows, he is assessing the situation before announcing anything.
“I can just tell you that he’s considering it seriously,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
”Like he said, he’s evaluating all the options, obviously now starting to think what team, what people, individuals he would like to have in his team.
”He’s trying to understand how the elections work, how much convincing, how many people he needs to obviously go and talk to, but he’s evaluating the whole thing and trying to understand how everything works.”
When asked whether the political nature of motorsport made him uneasy about his father’s potential FIA bid, Sainz admitted it’s a drawback – but believes his father is uniquely suited to rise above it.
“I think that’s a negative side, no, with the politics,” he added.
“But I think that if there’s a guy that could remove politics from it, it could also be my dad because he sticks to common sense and very basic rules of going about life and things.
“I think that’s why so many people went to him to push him, maybe, to potentially do it.
“So there’s politics, he will probably not enjoy that part of the work, but he knows it’s part also and he will have to handle it.”
Sainz dismisses FIA conflict fears, says integrity won’t be compromised
Questions have been raised over whether there would be a conflict of interest with his son currently racing in F1.
However, Sainz insisted that it would not be a problem and that he would make sure that it wouldn’t compromise his career in the series.
“I’ve been trying to think of scenarios where it could, but I actually don’t see any way how that could be seen,” he said.
“If anything, he will be extremely careful, I will be extremely careful because the last thing that I want is my or his image or career to be damaged by that situation.
“So if anything, we would do the opposite effect and I don’t see any conflict of [interest].
“You personally know my dad or you personally know me.
“We are honest people that would never ever compromise that situation in motorsport.”
The ex-Ferrari driver also explained why he feels his father is considering taking up the role.
“My dad is just non-stop – he loves motorsport, he loves racing, and he sees this as an opportunity to end his racing career but still do something further and find ways to give back to motorsport,” he said.
“Give back to the FIA, an entity that he has a lot of respect for all his years, and he knows what the FIA has done for the last 20-30 years to improve safety in motorsport, to improve everyone’s life here in motorsport.
“So he wants to, feels like he could give back and that motivates him.”
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz Sr denies son’s F1 career a conflict of interest in FIA presidency bid
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