The BBC said it had seen a report by FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri to its ethics committee in which a whistleblower claimed the president had intervened to overturn a penalty given to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

It alleged that Ben Sulayem called Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the FIA’s vice-president for sport for the Middle East and North Africa, who was in an official capacity at the race.

Double world champion Alonso was handed back the 100th podium of his Formula One career after a U-turn by officials hours after the finish in Jeddah on March 19 last year.

The 41-year-old Spaniard had finished third but was demoted to fourth by a 10-second post-race penalty for failing to serve properly a five-second penalty for an error in placing his car on the starting grid.

Stewards found the rear jack was in contact with the car before the five seconds were up.

The second penalty, imposed more than 30 laps after his pitstop, was then reversed when his team won a right to review after presenting new evidence to support their case.

The new evidence included the minutes of a Sporting Advisory Committee meeting and video of “seven different instances where cars were touched by the jack while serving a similar penalty … without being penalised”.

Meanwhile, the embattled principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, met the manager of his team driver Max Verstappen on Monday in the wake of public criticism and a recently put-to-bed wrongdoing investigation, according to multiple media reports.

Horner saw allegations of inappropriate behavior dismissed last week, but has since weathered negative public comments from Verstappen’s father, Jos, in recent days.

The two also were seen engaged in a public argument at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the younger Verstappen took first place.

Jos Verstappen, a former Formula One driver himself, said in part, “the team is in danger of being torn apart” and also told The Daily Mail that “there is tension while (Horner) remains in position”.

Red Bull responded on Monday in a statement to CNN, saying: “This is untrue. We are united as a team and we are concentrating on racing.”

Verstappen still in ‘different galaxy’ after dominant opening F1 win in Bahrain

Max Verstappen, 26, is a three-time F1 world champion and has won 55 Grand Prix races. He is managed by Raymond Vermeulen, who took the meeting with Horner.

Austria-based Red Bull GmbH, which owns the Formula One team, launched an independent investigation in February after a female colleague complained about Horner, 50.

Red Bull, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said: “The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr. Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed. The complainant has a right of appeal.

“Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial. The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and therefore we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned.

“Red Bull will continue striving to meet the highest workplace standards.”

Horner has been at the helm of the F1 team since 2005.

Red Bull has won six constructors championships and seven drivers championships. Max Verstappen has won the past three driver’s titles, and he teamed with Sergio Perez in 2023 to win all but one of the circuit’s 22 races.