Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: FIA 'not shy' of investigating Sergio Perez Monaco crash

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Sergio Perez car aft crashing successful Monaco qualifying

Formula 1's governing assemblage the FIA is prepared to analyse whether Sergio Perez deliberately crashed during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying successful May.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: "I didn't person anyone who said we privation to analyse it from our side.

"But if determination is thing to beryllium investigated, we are much than happy. I americium not shy oregon acrophobic of going into it."

Ben Sulayem added that helium would talk to satellite champion Max Verstappen astir the matter.

Verstappen has not publically revealed his reasons for refusing an bid to fto team-mate Perez by for sixth spot astatine Interlagos past Sunday.

But aggregate sources person said that the Dutchman believes Perez deliberately crashed connected his last qualifying tally successful Monaco successful May, preventing Verstappen from improving and taking a spot connected the beforehand enactment of the grid.

As it was, Perez qualified 3rd up of Verstappen and went connected to triumph the contention aft Ferrari made a strategy mistake with contention person Charles Leclerc.

On Thursday, Perez described the assertion arsenic "speculation" and "rumours", adding: "That rumour is wrong."

F1 rules forbid unsporting actions, and permission the FIA a scope of options successful presumption of punishment if it discovers them.

Red Bull are considered improbable to unpaid immoderate accusation connected the substance arsenic it would further disrupt squad harmony, which has already been severely affected by the enactment successful Brazil.

The Abu Dhabi study

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen conflict astatine 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Ben Sulayem became FIA president a substance of days aft erstwhile contention manager Michael Masi failed to use the rules correctly successful past year's rubric decider successful Abu Dhabi, aft which Lewis Hamilton mislaid the contention triumph and the satellite rubric to Verstappen.

The FIA later fired Masi and issued a study into the contention that was published astatine the commencement of this season.

There person been criticisms that the study did not satisfactorily code what went incorrect successful Abu Dhabi.

Ben Sulayem said: "Maybe the study was not capable but it was a bully effort astatine the transparency and present you spot each clip we person an issue, transparency."

He pointed to the contention astatine the Japanese Grand Prix implicit the deployment of a betterment conveyance connected track successful dense rainfall and mediocre visibility, and his involution to code the unsafe "bouncing" oregon porpoising of immoderate cars earlier this twelvemonth that was affecting operator health.

Japan led to a study that said lone 1 of the 2 contention directors who person been rotating the relation this twelvemonth would capable the presumption until the extremity of the season.

And the FIA introduced a measurement for the level of bouncing arsenic good arsenic different regularisation changes aimed astatine addressing it earlier the 2nd fractional of the season.

"The contented we had [in Japan], we did a thorough study and it was connected the FIA website earlier the adjacent contention aft consultation," Ben Sulayem said.

"Even porpoising, I called 20 drivers. I called 10 squad principals. We listened to them and came up with the amendment that was effected successful Belgium."

Addressing issues with contention power

There has been wide dissatisfaction wrong F1 this twelvemonth astir the mode the governing assemblage has administered the sport.

And the actions of contention directors Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas person been nether scrutiny aft a bid of incidents and interventions that person angered drivers and teams.

Ben Sulayem said that helium was successful a "restructuring" process.

He said that helium had instigated a programme aimed astatine improving F1 contention absorption that was enactment successful spot aft Abu Dhabi.

He said "phase one" of this programme would decorativeness "soon - hopefully astatine the opening of adjacent twelvemonth we volition person thing if not before".

He insisted his narration with the drivers was good, and said the aforesaid astir that with F1, aft repeated claims from insiders that the commercialized rights holder was unhappy with the FIA's actions this season.

"It's a marriage," Ben Sulayem said. "It's going to last, and strongly."

Pointing to his determination to hold F1's program to summation the fig of 'sprint' events to six from 3 adjacent year, helium said: "People assumed erstwhile I said astir the 3 sprint races that determination was a split. I laughed astir it."

Sources person said Ben Sulayem initially asked for other backing for the FIA from F1 successful instrumentality for his agreement. But helium said helium had simply wanted to analyse whether it would enforce an other load connected FIA officials.

"People don't recognize sometimes the unit that goes into the officials of the FIA," helium said.

That process took six months, and Ben Sulaymen said: "I americium successful a precise bully nonrecreational and idiosyncratic narration [with F1]."

Meanwhile, a gathering of the F1 Commission connected Friday agreed to "undertake a broad reappraisal of the sporting regulations for 2024".

It besides started a survey aimed astatine reducing the spray from cars successful bedewed weather, perchance with the usage of removable instrumentality arches that would beryllium fitted successful utmost conditions.

The outgo headdress and different matters

In the aftermath of disapproval of the FIA's handling of Red Bull's breaching of the fund headdress past season, Ben Sulaymen said a "big review" was being undertaken into what had happened this season.

"If you don't person the manpower to constabulary it, what is the usage of having this regulation?" helium said.

"We learned a lot. Who knows successful the archetypal twelvemonth what is going to beryllium the outcome? The different teams volition accidental we person been airy connected them, immoderate of them privation them to beryllium hanged. Where bash you gully [the line]? Do we privation to get escaped of them oregon straighten up and not bash it?

"What we did successful September/October, it should beryllium earlier, but arsenic the archetypal twelvemonth we learned a batch from it and we are inactive learning.

Ben Sulaymen's assignment of erstwhile Mercedes worker Shaila-Ann Rao arsenic the FIA's interim caput wide for athletics has angered Red Bull this year.

Sources person told BBC Sport that Rao volition suffer her presumption successful the coming days.

Ben Sulayem did not straight code a question connected her aboriginal but said: "Her presumption is interim caput general. What does interim mean? Shaila-Ann has been supportive a batch to maine and I spot her quality connected large decisions. I volition support my people."

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