It's not coming as a surprise to anyone who was even remotely paying attention (he's been working at it since he got there) but Ben Sulayem is on his last effort to turn the FIA into his own personal dictatorship.

from may 2026

"what was your relationship like with lewis in this period (2014-16)?"

nr: "there was no relationship. it's proper war, it's like war. don't talk, no relationship."

"but you were great buddies growing up?"

nr: "yes, but when you're fighting for a world championship, you will always compromise the friendship for the world championship, unfortunately. it's such a big dream. if you had to choose, you choose the wdc.

friendship...i mean it's not like we were best friends at the time. we were best friends as little kids, but then we drifted apart. we got on well, but not best friends anymore. between getting on well or winning the championship, you chose the championship.

to win, you need to exploit grey areas all the time. in wheel to wheel, you cannot be the nice guy. you need to push into the grey area, hold your ground."

"but you two were practically living together! engineering meetings together, garage, media."

nr: "so as you can imagine, not the most comfortable environments."

"so you would just not talk?"