When you cover a Formula 1 race on the ground for a week, themes tend to emerge.

Sometimes those are expected, and other times they come as a bit of a surprise.

Take, for example, last year’s United States Grand Prix. The week began with a focus on McLaren and “repercussions,” following an incident between teammates — and championship rivals — Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the previous race. Norris damaged his front wing on the opening lap in a collision with Piastri, dropping his teammate down the racing order from third to fifth.

When the grid arrived in Austin, the focus was on fallout from that incident, and how McLaren would govern the racing between the two drivers. But over the course of that week at the United States Grand Prix, attention shifted to Max Verstappen’s unlikely comeback effort. The Red Bull driver opened the week skeptical of his title chances, but slowly he too began to believe, after he won both the F1 Sprint Race and later the 2025 United States Grand Prix.

That leads us to the 2026 installment of that race. While the focus for most of the week was on Kimi Antonelli and the small chance he had to clinch his maiden F1 Drivers’ Championship in Austin, another theme emerged early in the week, continuing through race day.

Online abuse of drivers and motorsport figures through social media.

For example, during his Thursday media session in the Alpine hospitality space, driver Franco Colapinto talked at length about a recent video he shared on social media, imploring his own fans to dial back the online abuse directed towards other drivers.

“I’ve always been very grateful with all the fans supporting me, and I think in every sport and every fan base it [has] this bad side,” said Colapinto to the media, including SB Nation, ahead of the United States Grand Prix. “People putting bad comments and not helping the athletes perform their best. To me, it’s crossed a few lines lately.

“Especially, my mechanics got a lot of hate, my engineer, so people from my team that want me to do well and help me to perform, and I’m working with daily, getting these kind of messages.

“It just hurts me in general.”

Colapinto was not alone. Later in the day Thursday it was Verstappen himself who addressed a situation that unfolded after his racing team received a penalty during the GT World Challenge Europe event in Portugal. Team Verstappen was assessed a drive-through penalty after Chris Lulham was adjudged to have caused a collision. After Lulham was subjected to a wave of abuse, Verstappen strongly condemned the conduct on social media.

“[P]eople can say whatever they like online, and I mean for me personally, I don’t care like if it’s targeted to me. I mean they can all F off,” said Verstappen on Thursday in the Red Bull hospitality space. “But when it’s to one of my drivers that is young, right, and is not used to this kind of pressure and attention, and when they start writing these kind of things, it’s quite extreme.”

That brings me to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

In the hours before the United States Grand Prix, I was once again in his office located on the second floor of the FIA hospitality space at the Circuit of the Americas. I was lucky enough to chat with President Ben Sulayem at this race a year ago, and was again given the chance to speak with him for an interview, alongside the fantastic Jerry Perez from The Drive.

Many topics were covered.

Starting with the online abuse being directed at people inside motorsport, and what needs to be done about it.

“This is a sickness and this is a plague.”

This is how President Ben Sulayem began talking about the persistent media abuse directed at motorsport figures — starting with drivers but working through the paddock — in the hour before the United States Grand Prix.

While addressing a question about the changing world of F1, and some comments made by none other than Jeremy Clarkson, President Ben Sulayem pointed to social media abuse as something that we have never seen in the sporting world.

“One thing that we are facing here that we never faced is this online abuse against all of the drivers. This is a sickness and this is a plague,” said President Ben Sulayem. “This is more important than the view of Jeremy. When he said that he means good, he misses the old days, and that’s normal.

“But the challenges, the risks that we have from losing the sport is from the online abuse, and that’s where we need you.

“I mean, the FIA is doing its part. We did ‘United Against Online Abuse,’ but we have to use a lot of technology, AI, to expose these people. There’s no place for them, because if we don’t do something, our sport will be destroyed.”

United Against Online Abuse (UAOA) is a global coalition launched by the FIA and President Ben Sulayem back in 2023 to fight the hate speech and digital harassment persistent in all sports, including motorsport. The goal is to align governments, sporting federations, and technology companies to implement legal frameworks and policies to reduce the presence of online abuse. UAOA also partners with universities to analyse abuse patterns, and produce research into the best methods of combating online abuse.

I asked President Ben Sulayem what more could be done, including from those of us in the media space and the technology companies themselves. Verstappen himself on Thursday said that the companies needed to do more in this effort.

“Thank you for that. Thank you, because it’s a joint venture. It’s a marathon. For Pierre Gasly to have 13,000 threats on his life, 13,000,” emphasized the FIA President.

“We can’t do it alone.

“I mean we had stewards, [a steward] who was threatened to be killed,” added the FIA President. “These are volunteers.”

President Ben Sulayem then turned back to my initial question.

“So coming back, I believe that your mission is like ours. It is education. It is awareness that we do not accept [online abuse] and I’m not saying it about only the FIA. I’m saying it about some of the journalists being threatened. So we have awareness messages, and I said we have to use also our power, which is if it comes from someone who is a spectator, we ban him. If he is part of the media, we ban him because we have the authority.

“You expose one, and I guarantee the rest will be afraid.”

President Ben Sulayem then turned back to Alpine.

“I liked what Flavio [Briatore] said, specifically talking to Colapinto’s fan base. ‘If you don’t stop the hate, we will block access to Franco.’

“I thought that was a good way to maybe send a message.”

Asked if more team principals need to send similar message, President Ben Sulayem returned to the idea of a team effort.

“Not only the principals. It’s as I said to you [he pointed in my direction for emphasis]. It’s the responsibility of everyone. The drivers have fans. The drivers can also say to the fans, ‘Stop.’ I don’t want you to be my fan if you are not behaving. So the drivers have the responsibility. They are ambassadors, they are role models, and protecting other drivers is protecting them.

“And we as the FIA, we have a responsibility. The team have a responsibility. You have a responsibility. The governments have a responsibility. Other federations have a responsibility,” added the FIA President.

“And more than that, the high-tech companies who can reach people also have to block [these people].”

Another flashpoint this season has been the power units themselves.

Formula 1 introduced the biggest set of technical regulation changes in the history of the sport this season, moving to a near-50/50 split between battery power and the Internal Combustion Engine.

Reviews have been mixed at best, and led to a renewed push for the return of V8 engines from fans across the sport. President Ben Sulayem himself has joined the chorus, and in recent weeks shared a video on social media imploring fans to “watch this space” when it comes to the return of the V8s.

I offered President Ben Sulayem the chance to use our conversation as the “space” to perhaps make some news on that front.

“Oh, yes, I mean, the V8 is coming,” he declared emphatically.

I then asked what the return of the V8 was important for Formula 1.

“It’s important for the business.

“It’s important for the sport.

“I mean, we went through the MGU-H, MGU-K, and everybody’s realizing now, it’s not the way to go. This is a very complex engine. It was supposed to work.

“The world has changed now.”

The FIA President then talked about how simplicity matters, but how simplicity can still mean innovation.

“The solution to us in Formula 1 is simplicity, but simplicity is still innovation. Simplicity means less complexity when it comes to the teams. The teams who wanted what is happening now are struggling with it.

“What does the driver want to do? To be allowed to do what he does best. Drive. Not to start controlling, managing batteries. No, it is not the driver’s responsibility [to be managing batteries].”

Then there is another element.

The sound of the V8s roaring around some of the greatest race tracks in the world.

“And then the sound. Of course you don’t want to irritate [the drivers], but you want a good sound.

“Not noise.

“Sound.”

Formula 1 continues to grow and expand worldwide. Just this month a new race was announced, the return of the African Grand Prix at a new track in Rwanda, and this year brought a new site for the Spanish Grand Prix at a street circuit in Madrid. Next year’s schedule also includes a return to Türkiye, and when I talked to President Ben Sulayem last year, he talked about growing the sport in China and India as well.

But with growth and expansion comes the risk of alienating established markets, and traditional fans.

Asked about balancing the interests of the “traditionalists” and the “new audience,” President Ben Sulayem talked about creating an environment where both sides of that coin can be satisfied with the sport.

“What is racing or any sporting event? You have the competition side of it, you have the entertainment, and then you have the business side. You remove one of them and they won’t work together,” began President Ben Sulayem. “We are in the United States. We cannot implement what is successful in other countries here. Even if you look at the three events we have, if it is Miami, Austin, or Las Vegas.

“I mean, I was watching in a big screen in my office in Miami, and some of them were just having fun in their swimming pool and they didn’t know what was going on [on the track]. Does that make them wrong? No. Let them have fun. ”

Yet, something that President Ben Sulayem is adamant about when it comes to growing motorsport is accessibility, and increased access to karting. It was a topic of our conversation at this race a year ago, and I asked him about increasing access to karting during our discussion again this year.

“Let’s start with the grassroots. When I mean that, where did this driver come from?

“Karting.

“My God, this is the future. It is the sustainability of our existence. Bring [karting] here.

“I sorted the five championships — Formula E, Formula 1, WRC [World Rally Championship], and now we have a WRC in Tennessee, and I sorted also the WC World Indoors Championship. And now as we speak next week, the world rally raid will be sorted. So then it gives me the chance to go ahead and attend the unattended, which is the grassroots,” said the FIA President. “We have an active commission, and now it will be a standalone department.

“And I don’t want to mention some of the teams we implemented a penalty on, but some of that money is going to this department.

“So its the first time in the history of the FIA that the FIA will have its own karting. Never been for 122 years.”

President Ben Sulayem also discussed the mission of the FIA, which is growing motorsport.

“Our mission is fairness, safety, and growing motorsport.”

I then asked President Ben Sulayem what, in his mind, would make his tenure a success.

He returned to that idea of accessibility.

“Repositioning the FIA, making it more accessible. Accessibility comes from affordability. It’s very expensive. Regulations have to be improved. The structuring of the FIA. Making sure that our promoter, which I respect and I’m proud of, which is FOM [Formula One Management] and Liberty Media. They understand now the FIA because the FIA owns the championship and they are amazing promoters, really, that they are, but respecting each other.

“Look, how good is the relationship. I think you can feel it.

“And, we’re repositioning the FIA.

“And don’t divert from the objectives and the missions of the FIA and also protect it, that when you put it in a good position when it comes to the financial, and the structure, and the mission itself, and the plan. Because I believe failing to plan is a plan to fail, then also you have to make sure at least the members know that it is easy to ruin what has been done.

“And incredibly, you know, even bringing GM [General Motors] was, you saw what happened,” continued President Ben Sulayem, referencing F1’s newest team Cadillac. “I’m proud of it, regarding whatever happens, regarding all of these people against it. Now everybody’s clapping.

“Fine, we don’t want any credit. We just need to see selective teams coming, and so to me I’m proud.

“I don’t get a salary.

“It’s not a job.

“It is a responsibility.”