FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer is hoping for a difficult battle with incumbent Mohammed Ben Slayem this year, but says, “I’m not going to go down the ditch.”
Mayer officially announced his campaign at a press conference at Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix on Friday morning, becoming Ben Slayem’s first opponent and confirmed that they will run ahead of this December election. He told racers that the election process for new candidates is “pretty difficult and will do so on purpose,” he told the news conference that the campaign believes it can provide a respect between the two.
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“Well, I don’t think Mohammed will give up,” Mayer said. “This will be a close fight. This will be a difficult fight. I’m not going to go down into the ditch. I’m just going to tell the truth.
“I think this is about the politics of it. For me, it’s not about personality. I’ve known Mohammed for a very long time. I admire him as the head of ASN who has a motorsport that has truly developed in his country.
“But I’ve done this for 34 years too. I stood in the scaffolding tower and hosted a rallycross race with binoculars and one radio. So I was at the grassroots level. I was also in the Formula 1 steward room.
“But on the other hand, I was on the World Motorsports Council for 16 years, so I’ve seen all of this and I think I know that people can bring leadership with experience, knowledge and experience that they can trust,” he said.
One change in the law allows the nomination committee (reporting to Ben Slayem) to scrutinize candidates and potentially prohibit them from standing if they feel that in the past there is something that can question their professional integrity. Mayer says his father’s history does not relate to him in that respect, when he was the co-founder and team principal of McLaren more than 40 years ago.
“I’ve been a Formula 1 steward since 2009. Everyone in Paddock knows that my father (Teddy Mayer) founded McLaren Race in 1963. He sold it in 1982. I never worked for McLaren. I had no connection with McLaren.
“And by the way, in my bio, which is published every week in the media when I’m a steward, that first line always says, “Teddy Mayer’s son, blah, blah, blah.” So every team knows.
“I will tell you the moments I’m proud of my presidency career. Dad was running Pensuke Racing at the time. I punished him with the Japanese Motegi for a pit stop violation he pulled along with Paul Tracy. They appealed to the appeal process.
Mayer runs during a period when Formula 1 has enjoyed growing popularity in the US for many years, but he says that the vote is one of the FIA member clubs worldwide, so he is his international experience.
“I’m extremely proud to be an American. July 4th, by the way, I’m happy. The timing is a coincidence. This isn’t an independent day for everyone!
“I think I’ve been given an incredible opportunity in my career. Through American motorsport, I was able to enter roles all over the world, meet people who race in Singapore, China and Japan, and work with all these regions across Asia.
“So the FIA president is the president of a global organization. Why do they need to trust me? Well, I have experience. That’s because I had the opportunity to go out and do it as an American.
