LAURA VILLARS Makes Historic FIA Presidential Bid With Fresh Motorsport Vision

October 3, 2025

by Madeline Coleman // from www.nytimes.com

• Swiss racing driver LAURA VILLARS launched her bid for FIA president at 28, bringing fresh perspective to motorsport’s governing body. With experience across Formula 4, F3 Regional, GT cars, and prototype racing including Le Mans, she’s positioning herself as the change candidate against incumbents Ben Sulayem and Tim Mayer. Her platform centers on transparency, participatory governance, and making motorsport more accessible – particularly calling out how current FIA operations appear “opaque” from the outside.
• VILLARS’ accessibility agenda includes cutting grassroots entry costs by 20% over three years and creating an FIA Young Leaders Academy to identify talent regardless of gender or geography. She’s specifically building on Susie Wolff’s F1 Academy work, stating women need to “continue to fight” and break barriers since “we have the same capacity as men.” Her Club Support Fund would level the playing field between large and small motorsport organizations worldwide.
• The campaign faces credibility questions given VILLARS’ limited leadership experience compared to her 59-year-old and 63-year-old opponents. Her interview responses sometimes lack specificity, often referencing programs “already in talks” or details to be announced “in a few weeks.” Still, her carbon-neutral by 2030 goals and “Zero Deaths by 2035” road safety initiative align with industry trends, and she’s actively courting the required 18 club endorsements needed by October 24th for the December 12th election in Uzbekistan.

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