The FIA

The FIA represents 150 national motor clubs from 117 countries. Formula One is the jewel in the FIA crown, but it also governs motorsport of all forms within its member countries. (The USA is not a member country and has formed its own governing bodies.) As its name implies, the Federation was founded in France because that’s where the sport was invented. Today it has bases in Paris, Geneva, and London. There is no legal reason why the FIA should be the only international motorsport governing body in the countries it represents. It is simply the one that has prevailed and through which all the contracts with teams, manufacturers, circuits, and race promoters have been worked. Its status and constitutional security has also been enhanced because European law recognises the FIA as the body that can assess vehicle and circuit safety. Even if a rival governing body were to set up, it would still need to accede to the FIA – at least in Europe – in getting cars and tracks certified as safe.
Every five years, the motor clubs vote for the presidency of the FIA. The current president, Max Mosley, was first voted to the position in 1991 and has been successfully re-elected twice since. He is the son of pre-war British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, although there is probably less significance in this fact than meets the eye!