Reports - Bin Sulayem the next FIA candidate?

A name has now emerged, amid rumours a third candidate for December’s FIA presidential elections is looming.

Briton David Ward has already entered the race to de-throne Jean Todt, but F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone this week hinted that a third contender might be waiting in the wings.

"Maybe it (Ward’s candidature) has opened the door for other potential candidates," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"They’ll say ’If he can, I can too’. So we don’t know how many (candidates) there will be in the end. There’s still time to submit a nomination," Ecclestone added.

A name, mentioned not only by Auto Motor und Sport but also separately by Speed Week, has now emerged — Mohammad Bin Sulayem.

He is known as the highest ranking motor racing official in the United Arab Emirates, and formerly a strong supporter of Max Mosley.

The 51-year-old, a former Middle East rally champion, also made headlines a few years ago when he crashed a modern Renault formula one car at an event in Dubai.

Speed Week quoted an insider as saying: "He would be a dangerous rival for Todt and Ward, because there are many out there who would support him more than the Frenchman and his (British) challenger."