Mohamed Ben Sulayem, Renault, Dubai, 2009

Rally champion Ben Sulayem crashes Renault F1 car in Dubai demo run

F1 links

Posted on

| Written by

The fallout from F1’s ‘Lie-gate’

"This week the FIA increased the pressure on Hamilton. A source close to the FIA commented: “First of all Lewis heard the radio exchange. It appeared that the strategy (his and Ryan’s) was to be extremely vague and not be very direct with the answers. Then the interview where he (Hamilton) said ‘I was told to let him past’ was played. At this point both got very uncomfortable, but still denied that’s what actually happened.”"

Renault Roadshow ends up in a crash

"Multiple Middle Eastern Rally Champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem brought his involvement in Renault's Formula 1 roadshow in Dubai to an early end on Thursday, when he smashed up an R28 in a sizeable accident."

A View of Sepang

Journeyer on Sepang

AT&T Williams F1 Race Day Hospitality

"We've now set our Race Day Hospitality dates this year for your chance to come and watch a grand prix live at our HQ!"

Why Hamilton and his Mercedes pals are hypocrites, by Oliver Holt

"When Max Mosley was pictured taking part in a sado-masochistic orgy last year, Mercedes and BMW issued a joint statement expressing their disgust. One driver was quicker than the rest to back them up. 'I totally agree with what they were saying," he said. "We're all, especially the young people, looking up to at least someone to show us the way.' Step forward that principled driver, that man who was happy to cast his stone along with everyone else, that driver who was keen to back up Mercedes, the corporate giant who provide the engines for his McLaren and are now the team's biggest shareholder. That's right, come on down Lewis Hamilton Come on down from the moral high ground."

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

15 comments on “Rally champion Ben Sulayem crashes Renault F1 car in Dubai demo run”

  1. the only thing surprising about a high-speed car crash in dubai is that it was on a racetrack.

    AT&T Williams F1 Race Day Hospitality

    this would be an incredible experience. i’m half-tempted to try for either of the latter 2 races. how much is a reasonable hotel in london for fri-sat-sun?

  2. I think everyone needs to reserve their judgement on the lewis hamilton/dave ryan/mclaren mercedes debacle until we have all the facts and know exactly what was said and why.

    Maybe we’ll never know.

  3. Looking at the last article , by Oliver Holt, pretty much what the world expects from British journalists, using both feet to kick someone when they are down….

    1. he sure does swing around the mercedes name, but a decent reporter (and editor) would at least mention vodafone and their arab backers.

    2. Holt works for the Mirror… what do you expect? In Britain, it’s either hyped into the stratosphere, or kicked to death. It seems there’s no in between and no other way to sell a paper! And where can a Mirror writer like Holt get off talking about moral high ground??? Most of their stories are fictional anyway!

      I don’t agree with what happened with McLaren/Ryan/Hamilton (especially since they’d done nothing wrong), but I think that the way they’re handling themselves now and dealing with the situation deserves a lot of respect.

  4. Poor Piquet, leave him alone…

    Patrick Head’s words are (as usual) interesting. Maybe they should revisit Ross Brawn’s proposal for greater aerodynamic restrictions for the 2010 rules – particularly if it makes the cars (a) more of a challenge to drive, and (b) better looking

  5. Lol, more of the Renault.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5RsG7mnDA

    It really puts things in perspective. Tricky beasts…

    1. …and that was a DRAG race,don’t imagine he will be considered for an F1 drive!….the first corner would be just too tricky.

  6. Funny,
    Do you hear on the video how he’s just laying on the throttle? Never hear that in a race. I think it’s called throttle control.
    Just proves that you don’t let someone who’s used to 300 hp dink around with an 800+ hp machine.
    We all just witnessed the world’s most expensive burnout!
    Who is the numb nuts that is driving the car anyways? I’ve never heard or seen his name anywhere.

    1. Mohammad Bin Sulayem, 14 times Middle East rally champion, who is now head of the local automobile federation and a close ally of FIA President Max Mosley

  7. Wot are they trying to prove by such Drag races???? F1 is superior thn other road cars??? Soo childish mentality!!!

    1. oops *”F1 cars” not just “F1”

  8. Mohammad Bin Sulayem must have taken lessons from Nelson Piquet.

  9. The fact that the Oliver Holt article is for The Mirror shows how seriously it should be taken.

    But I thought one of the main reasons for the Mercedes and BMW joint statement was because of the alleged Nazi elements to the scandal, which were later ruled to be untrue in Mosley’s legal case against the News Of The World.

Comments are closed.