Sébastien Ogier has publicly apologised to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña for an “out of line interaction” at Rally Paraguay.
The reigning world rally champion posted an apology on social media related to an interaction on Saturday, in which he raised his concerns about the World Rally Championship. Ben Sulayem was in attendance at Rally Paraguay for a press conference to present the WRC’s new commercial rights holders to the media.
It remains unclear exactly what Ogier said during the interaction with Ben Sulayem and Peña. However, the Toyota driver had been outspoken about WRC tyre supplier Hankook after a series of failures on Friday.
Sebastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Ogier suffered two punctures on Friday before retiring from the day with front suspension damage after stage three. The Toyota driver labelled the tyres “not the standard for a world championship” before stating that “it is just a lottery” and “far from acceptable” when speaking to Autosport.com.
Several hours after Rally Paraguay finished, Ogier posted a statement confirming that he had apologised in person to Ben Sulayem and Peña on Saturday night, before holding a constructive meeting with Ben Sulayem to address his concerns within the WRC.
“After an eventful and very well organised Rally del Paraguay I would like to take the opportunity to publicly apologise for the out of line interaction with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and President of Paraguay Santiago Peña yesterday afternoon,” read the statement from Ogier.
“It was neither the right moment nor the right tone in which I raised my concerns about the championship.
“I have already had the chance to apologise to both Presidents in person last night, followed by a very constructive meeting.
“It was actually a great moment to speak with FIA President Ben Sulayem and be able to address a few areas that we all know need attention and improvement in our sport.
“Together, we set some clear targets which I look forward to see being actioned for a better future of rallying.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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