Swiss-French racing driver Laura Villars has launched legal action against the rules that prevented her from running against incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem for the presidency of motorsport’s world governing body, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile).

A presidential vote was set for December, but Emirati Ben Sulayem now appears poised to secure a second term unopposed.

Villars, 28, announced her unexpected candidacy in September, but was unable to assemble the required team of vice-presidential candidates from the FIA’s official list of 29 by the October 24 deadline. Each presidential hopeful must nominate one vice-president from each FIA global region — a rule Villars says is impossible to meet fairly, since only one South American, Fabiana Ecclestone, appears on the list, and she is already aligned with Ben Sulayem’s team.

In a statement dated October 27, Villars said that the Judicial Court of Paris had authorized her to summon the FIA before an emergency judge, with a hearing scheduled for November 10. Her lawyer, Robin Binsard, said the court was “taking seriously the serious democratic failings within the FIA, as well as several violations of its Statutes and Regulations that we have denounced.”

Villars’s move was welcomed by American Tim Mayer, a former Formula One steward who also sought to stand for the presidency but was similarly blocked. Mayer — son of former McLaren boss Teddy Mayer — has described the FIA election system as offering only “the illusion of democracy.”

“In South America only one person stood for the World Motorsport Council. In Africa only two. All three are directly associated with the incumbent,” Mayer said earlier this month. “The result is simple — no one but the incumbent can run under the FIA system.”

Villars insisted her legal challenge was not an attack on the FIA, but an attempt to safeguard its integrity:

“Democracy is not a threat to the FIA; it is its strength,” she said.

The Paris-based FIA defended the process, describing the presidential election as “a structured and democratic process designed to ensure fairness and integrity at every stage.”

It added that the election requirements were long-standing and publicly available in its statutes and internal regulations.

“Due to the nature of the process, the FIA is unable to comment on this legal action and will not be able to provide further comment on this matter,” a spokesperson said.