David Richards, chairman of Motorsport UK, has threatened legal action against the FIA due to the governance of Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The FIA president is wildly unpopular within the F1 community and has made plenty of enemies with a number of aggressive clampdowns, including on driver swearing, and a handful of scandals, including the brief investigation into Susie Wolff.

In a lengthy and strongly-worded statement released on Wednesday, Richards wrote: “For some time now I’ve had concerns about the erosion of accountability and good governance within the FIA. As you may have seen in the press, an issue has recently emerged that has compelled me to take a stand and needs an explanation.”

He went on to add: “Various techniques have also been deployed with the effect of limiting the proper function of the World Motor Sport Council, primarily the use of e-voting which removes the opportunity for much needed discussion and debate on key subjects.

“This has become increasingly worrying and the final straw for me, three weeks ago, was being asked to sign a new confidentiality agreement that I regarded as a ‘gagging order’.”

Richards went on to add: “Our Motorsport UK lawyers, along with our French Legal Counsel, have challenged the FIA on their actions by setting out a clear set of questions that the FIA leadership needs to answer.

“It is very disappointing to report that we have still not received an answer to these or the fundamental question I raised: where in the FIA Statutes does it provide for an elected member to be barred from a meeting?”