Could Carlos Sainz Sr be blocked from standing for FIA presidential election?

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is alleged to be pushing through further changes to the statutes of motorsport’s governing body – which could prevent candidates from running against him.

The BBC has reported that a series of revised protocols are on the agenda and set to be voted on at next month’s FIA General Assembly.

Central to the proposals would be a move to bring forward the deadline for candidates to declare their interest in standing for the presidential election in December.

It comes after Autosport exclusively revealed last week that Carlos Sainz Sr was considering standing for election.

Bringing the deadline forward would reduce the amount of time Sainz has to get support from the voting member clubs – if he does decide to run for election.

In another tweak, the BBC says the new proposal dictates there “must not be anything in the record of the candidates standing for the election as members of the presidential list that calls into question their professional integrity”.

Adding such a clause would further implicate Sainz’s bid, with the code of ethics adding that parties of the FIA “shall avoid any conflicts of interest and must disclose any situation that could lead to such a conflict”.

As Sainz Sr is the father of Williams Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz, it would be conceivable for the ethics committee to determine that there is an obvious conflict of interest. If they decided to do so, he would be unable to run for election.

The BBC reports that the reason given for such changes is “to ensure consistency between terms of office and group these elections together”.

On Tuesday, Autosport asked Williams boss James Vowles for his thoughts on Sainz running for election, and he said he felt the Spaniard would be a “good fit” for the position.