FIA sending Instagram DMs to F1 fans asking them to follow president Mohammed Ben Sulayem

FIA’s official Instagram account has reportedly been DM’ing F1 fans asking them to follow president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Ben Sulayem replaced Jean Todt as the president of FIA, after the latter stepped down late last year. Todt was president of the FIA since 2009 and oversaw plenty of major changes in motorsports, and F1 in particular.

The 2021 F1 season saw one of the most intense Title battles of all time between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. It ended in very controversial fashion, after race director Michael Masi’s questionable decision making handed Verstappen the Title.

Todt retired right after the season finale. As a result, it was up to Ben Sulayem to deal with the backlash that came with the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. He launched an investigation into the events of Yas Island, which led to the controversy.

Ahead of the start of the 2022 season, he admitted that race control made a huge mistake last season, which led to Verstappen passing Hamilton on the final lap to win his first World Title.

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F1 fans being asked to follow Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Instagram

Earlier this weeks, some fans started sharing a bizarre screenshot on their social media accounts. Apparently, all those who followed the FIA were being sent a message.

“Hi, thanks for following us,” the message said. “We are glad to share the same passion about motorsport. To follow more about the FIA’s news and actions, follow the account of our president.”

It was surprising for fans to receive this message, as most had never seen anything like this. Some however recalled that the FIA had done the same thing before as well, when Todt was president.

Ben Sulayem has not had it easy since becoming president of the FIA. Earlier this year, he faced a lot of backlash from fans after he criticized Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel for speaking out against social issues.

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