Two senior FIA figures depart governing body

The FIA has lost two of its senior figures, as its director of communications Luke Skipper and secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard have resigned.

Both are said to have left the organisation to pursue other interests, but their departures come at a time when FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s style of leadership has again been in the spotlight.

Ben Sulayem triggered controversy ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix as he called for drivers to swear less, with a subsequent sanction handed down on Max Verstappen for cursing in a press conference prompting protests from the Dutchman.

Now, Ben Sulayem has also taken aim at the British media, after suggesting that he has been “convicted” by unspecified coverage.

There has been no official word on the reasons for the departures of Skipper and Bangsgaard, although both were high-profile figures within the FIA.

Skipper joined in 2022 as the FIA’s first director of communications and public affairs.

He had huge experience in the business, having previously been a director of public affairs for communication firm Weber Shandwick as he worked with a host of international clients. He had also been the Scottish National Party’s chief of staff at the UK Parliament.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Bangsgaard had been appointed as the FIA’s Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism in 2023, having become an influential figure in mobility through being the founder and CEO of European Policy Research since 1997.

Prior to his most recent role, he was Director General of FIA Region I, and had also worked for the FIA Foundation in London as director of international relations.

The departure of Skipper and Bangsgaard comes in the wake of a series of major FIA departures over the course of the past 12 months.

Last winter it was announced that sporting director Steve Nielsen and single-seater technical director Tim Goss had both resigned from their roles.

Nielsen has since returned to a position within FOM, while Goss is due to start work imminently at the RB F1 team as its new chief technical officer.

Their exits came shortly after Deborah Mayer left as head of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.

This February, it emerged that governance and regulatory director Pierre Ketterer and head of commercial legal affairs Edward Floydd, both of whom had a hand in Concorde Agreement negotiations on behalf of the FIA, had left.

In May, it was announced that the FIA’s first CEO Natalie Robyn was also leaving the governing body to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

She had been appointed by Ben Sulayem in November 2022 as part of a big effort to reform the management structure of the organisation.