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FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem has surrendered hands on day-to-day control of Formula 1 ahead of the new season.

Ben Sulayem, who will remain president of the FIA, informed teams of the decision in a letter on Monday.

He confirmed that he will be leaving the day-to-day handling of operations with FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis.

Ben Sulayem was elected as FIA president in December 2021 and outlined a plan to restructure the FIA’s F1 operations.

This included changes to the senior FIA management as well as an overhaul of race control.

An FIA spokesperson said Ben Sulayem stepping back from day-to-day F1 operations “is a natural next step”.

They told Motorsport.com: “The President’s manifesto clearly set out this plan before he was elected.

“It pledged ‘the appointment of an FIA CEO to provide an integrated and aligned operation,’ as well as to ‘introduce a revised governance framework’ under ‘a leadership team focused on transparency, democracy, and growth.’

“These goals, as well as the announcement of the new structure of the Single-Seater Department, have been planned since the beginning of this Presidency.

“The FIA President has a wide remit that covers the breadth of global motor sport and mobility, and now that the structural reorganisation in Formula 1 is complete this is a natural next step.”

Ben Sulayem will remain involved in high-level decision-making and focus on strategic matters.