What is seen as an increasingly fraught relationship between the teams and the FIA was exacerbated further at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, while the organisation’s president Mohammed bin Sulayem has been criticised for a failure of leadership. Recently it is believed the president has demanded the FIA be afforded a motorhome of equivalent size to that used by the teams. The FIA did employ its rules around the safety car absolutely to the letter in Italy, however, and did so after what it said had been full and open discussions with the teams as to how the safety car should be used in the wake of Abu Dhabi, agreeing that the rules should be followed in exactly the same way, regardless of when or at what race.

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