Mohammed ben Sulayem, the controversial president of the FIA, is said to be looking to scrap the term limit set by Jean Todt.

Todt, who succeeded Max Mosley in 2009, introduced the rule whereby once elected, the president - if re-elected - could serve for two further terms of four years, giving a maximum of twelve years in the position. Previously, Mosley had served for 16 years.

Last year's election saw Ben Sulayem unopposed after the two other candidates, Teddy Mayer and Laura Villars, were blocked from running.

Changes to the statutes are to be discussed at the FIA General Assembly next month, and are likely to be passed because everyone is basically on board with the Emirati.

"A proposal has been put forward to establish a consistent approach to tenure across all FIA bodies, similar to what currently exists for the world councils and the senate," an FIA spokesman told the BBC. "The proposal is subject to approval by the World Councils and by the General Assembly. FIA bodies retain full authority to democratically elect officeholders."

Ben Sulayem has been a controversial leader of the sport's governing body from the outset, and whilst initially on a collision course with Formula One Management this appeared to cool.

However, his recent call for a return to V8s, along with the claim that by the end of the decade the FIA - and thereby its president - will have full autonomy suggests that there will be further clashes.

"Term limits are not a bureaucratic detail," Mayer told the BBC, of the latest move. "They are a fundamental safeguard of good governance, recognised as essential to preventing the concentration of power, ensuring renewal of leadership, and maintaining accountability to those an organisation exists to serve."

Claims that Ben Sulayem sees the FIA as his own personal fiefdom are sure to gather strength with news of two other proposed changes to the rules regarding presidential hopefuls.

The first would be the requirement for candidates to "demonstrate sufficient experience within an FIA member or an FIA body", while the time period by which prospective candidates have to submit details of their support team of vice-presidents would be increased from 49 days to 100 days before the election.

It was a change to the rules relating to 'support teams' that saw Mayer and Villars blocked from running, for under the revised rules vice-presidents for sport had to be selected from each of the FIA's six global regions.

The list for South America, had just one candidate, Fabiana Ecclestone, a member of Ben Sulayem's team, therefore, with no other candidates from South America, the two candidates were unable to nominate a vice-president from the region. That said, that particular rule was in place before Ben Sulayem became president.

Explaining the need to extend term limits, the FIA spokesperson referred to the example of the NFL, saying that Roger Goodell, who has been commissioner since 2006, has "transformed the sport into a global brand and it has an outstanding governance record".

While in some ways this might be music to the ears of F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, in other ways it won't, particularly in terms of Ben Sulayem's use of the word "autonomy" over the F1 rules from 2030.