The FIA has denied any favoritism by the Mercedes team after speculation that their biased decisions were influenced by former German team employee Shaila-Ann Rao.
Rao was employed by Toto Wolff's team as a special advisor from 2018 until June of this year, when she replaced Peter Bayer at the FIA. Shaila-Ann was previously employed by the FIA from 2016 to 2018, and some rivals have expressed concern since the announcement that the former Mercedes employee was returning to the international federation.
She herself dismissed any concerns about bias in July this year, but doubts resurfaced after information was leaked to the public that the Red Bull Racing team exceeded last year's budget, even before the FIA completed the balance sheet. Shaila-Ann, as a senior FIA official, was also involved in determining the Red Bull penalty, but the federation's president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, dismissed the concerns, saying that Rao was one of those who felt that the punishment for the Milton-based team was Keynes is too strict.
Ben Sulayem added that he is sure that the information about the budget overrun was not leaked to the public from the FIA, as representatives were present at the F1 commission meeting.
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