Former FIA Deputy President reflects: 'From there, silence was defeaning'

Former FIA Deputy President for Sport and WRC champion as navigator, Robert Reid, shared a follow up on his departure.

A week ago, Reid announced he will leave his role from the motorsport federation. The Scotsman cited lack of transparency as reason for his departure with immediate effect.

In his Substack, he has now reflected on his decision. To begin with, he appreciates the overwhelming support but publicly and privately he received after he made his decision public.

However, another thing also stood out to him. "It is interesting, but not wholly surprising, that many of those messages of support came with the caveat of not being willing to say anything publicly for fear of retaliation, which highlights some of the issues we face," he wrote about the private messages he received.

"I would never ask anyone to put themselves in what they feel is an uncomfortable position, be it through a letter of support or a social post showing clear endorsement, as I don’t feel that it would be fair to do so. From other quarters the silence has been deafening."

Concerns of 'internalisation'

The former Deputy President also explained he stands by the decision he has made, and the concerns he raised, but received no answers from the federation.

"Eventually, I had no choice but to seek external legal advice and support. Only then did I receive a response, but unfortunately it lacked the clarity and rigour I had hoped for. I was told, in broad terms, that the governance process was sound and there was no legal risk. But no evidence or explanation was offered to support those assurances. As someone accountable to the membership and exposed to personal liability, that was simply not acceptable," he explained.

On not signing the Non-disclosure Agreement

Back in February, the BBC reported many key figures refused to sing non-disclosure agreements at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting.

"I did not refuse to sign the NDA amendment. I simply requested a short extension in order to seek legal advice on a complex document governed by Swiss law, which was presented with a relatively short deadline. That request was denied. As a result, I was excluded from the World Motor Sport Council meeting, in my view, both unfairly and unlawfully," he continued.

Afterwards, Reid's FIA email has also been disabled without him being notified on purpose. He also added that confidentiality within a federation is not an issue in general, and will not share any information beyond what's legal.

"It became clear that raising legitimate concerns was not always welcomed and I experienced firsthand how challenging the status quo can lead to exclusion rather than dialogue. I don’t regret speaking up. But I do believe I was treated unfairly for doing so."

He added: "Leadership matters. Governance matters. And trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. If motorsport is to remain credible and thrive into the future, it must be governed not by control, but by collaboration. Not by silence, but by accountability."

Now, a holiday awaits Reid, he but underlined he is still passionate about motorsport.

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