Founded in 1904, the FIA’s initial aim was to bring coherent governance and safety to motor sport.
What is the FIA?
Through the expertise gained in that arena, the FIA has since grown into a global organization that not only promotes motor sport, but also safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across the world. As such, the federation works across three key interlinked areas of activity – Sport, Campaigns and Mobility. In the realm of Mobility, the FIA aims to ensure that safe, affordable and clean systems of transport are available to all. The promotion of safe and sustainable forms of mobility has in turn led the FIA to commit to global sustainability initiatives and also to found its own major response to road safety concerns, FIA Action for Road Safety. This worldwide campaign, in support of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, aims to reduce fatalities on the roads by five million before 2020. As the governing body of motor sport, the FIA ensures that fair, capably regulated and above all safe events are conducted in all corners of the globe. Ultimately, the FIA’s goal is simple – to keep you moving, safely and dynamically.
Dedicated to Performance
The FIA’s involvement in motor sport is almost as old as the automobile itself. With city-to-city racing becoming popular in the early 20th century, but with no rules governing safety or fair competition, the Automobile Club de France allied itself with 12 clubs from around the world to form the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus, the direct antecedent of the FIA. In 1950, the federation inaugurated the Formula One World Championship and thus began the FIA’s evolution into a global motor sports force. From Formula One to the World Rally Championship and from endurance racing to the brand new arena of alternative energy championships, the FIA’s passion for motor sport and its dedication to ensuring fair play and safety for all competitors are undiminished.
Beyond the Passion
Few competitive endeavours offer the adrenaline-fuelled excitement of motor sport. From Formula One’s thrilling blend of high tech and high glamour to the World Rally Championship’s potent mix of ultimate car control and extreme environments, top level motor sport has the ability to ignite the strongest passions in competitor and spectator alike. But raw emotion must be backed up by calm control and it’s here that the FIA operates, regulating and adjudicating at hundreds of events in a huge variety of series each year. From providing regulatory expertise and an impartial sporting judicial system to the federation’s recent embrace of the World Anti-Doping Agency code to combat the use of drugs in sport, the FIA is the world arbiter for motor sport.
In Safe Hands
Recognising that motor sport is inherently dangerous, the FIA has, throughout its history, worked ceaselessly to improve safety at all levels of competition. In the 1960s, one in every eight Formula One events resulted in a driver being killed. However, 50 years later, the FIA is hugely proud of the fact that the number of accidents in championships it organises has markedly decreased. There is no room for complacency, however. While F1 has an enviable safety record, other categories continue to see injuries and fatalities occur and the FIA is committed to eradicating deaths and serious injury from all forms of motor sport. As such, in 2004, the FIA Institute was created to further the rapid development of new and improved safety technologies, to facilitate higher standards of education and training, and to raise awareness of safety and sustainability issues. The FIA’s message is simple: ‘You are in safe hands’.
