The FIA president at the heart of the turmoil.
While he is already accused of having interfered in a Formula 1 Grand Prix by requesting the cancellation of a penalty, Mohammed Ben Sulayem would have gone further for the Las Vegas GP.
While the city of excess hosted its first race in 41 years, the head of the international automobile federation reportedly asked his teams to find a way to derail the race before it took place.
Information revealed by the BBC this Tuesday citing a whistleblower.
According to this source cited in the report, “the objective was to find loopholes on the circuit in order to refuse the license”.
She adds: “problems on the circuit were intended to be artificially identified, without taking into account their real existence, with the aim of refusing the license.”
The Emirati Mohammed Ben Sulayem would have asked his troops to “find solutions to prevent the FIA from certifying the circuit before the race weekend” in November 2023, it is written in an internal FIA report, that the BBC was able to consult, and who quotes the whistleblower.
The report, intended for the FIA ethics committee, adds that officials "could not find any problem with the circuit and therefore certified that the circuit was ready for racing."
Another penalty cancellation case?
The reason why the president of the FIA, who succeeded Jean Todt in December 2021, would have wanted to prevent this race from taking place is not explained.
A conflict of influence and image is undermining relations between the FIA, arbiter of the World Championship, and Liberty Media, which holds the commercial rights.
The new Las Vegas Grand Prix, 41 years after the last one, is a flagship event for Liberty Media, the event's American promoter.
With this race, F1 now has three GPs in the United States with Austin and Miami.
Also read: The calendar for the 2024 Formula 1 season
According to the BBC, which cites the same source, Ben Sulayem also asked officials to cancel a penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia last year.
An accusation which appears in the same report intended for the ethics committee.
Contacted by AFP, the FIA refused to immediately comment on these accusations.