The FIA has reacted to Tim Mayer's claim that the election process is undemocratic and essentially only allows for one candidate.

"The FIA Presidential election is a structured and democratic process, to ensure fairness and integrity at every stage," said a spokesperson. "The requirements for the 2025 FIA elections, including the relevant deadlines and eligibility criteria for the Presidential List and World Councils, are defined in the FIA Statutes and Internal Regulations, which are publicly available on the FIA's website.

"Detailed information regarding these elections has also been made available on a dedicated page on the FIA's website since 13 June 2025 and communicated to all FIA Members," they added.

"The requirements related to the regional representation of the Vice-Presidents for Sport, and to select them from the World Motor Sport Council in order to draw up a Presidential List, are not new. These criteria applied to previous elections.

"As to be expected, preparing a candidature for a Presidential List or the World Councils requires certain steps to be taken. Prospective candidates have had since the publication of the detailed information on 13 June to prepare their applications."

Referring to the report by the Utrecht School of Governance, the spokesperson said: "The report commissioned by Tim Mayer's team finds the FIA's governance practices to be in line with other federations, particularly those "that have made progress in formalising governance structures".

"The benchmarking process outlined within the report does not find the FIA to be behind the curve," they added. "This reflects the fact that the FIA has taken several steps to strengthen its corporate governance policies.

"The FIA was not contacted to confirm any of the statements or assumptions made about its processes, policies and administration within the report."