Tim

Mayer, the son of former McLaren team principal Teddy Mayer and a long-time steward for the FIA before being fired by Ben Sulayem last year, said he had submitted a number of ethics complaints to the governing body about the election process.

“We strongly believe a series of ethics violations have been committed in this election process,” he said. “And we have now submitted numerous ethics complaints.

“Assuming the Ethics Committee finds validity to our complaints, who does this go to for action? The president of the FIA or the senate president – both conflicted parties. The statutes don’t provide for any other method or for any appeal. Where is the accountability? This is how institutions fail.

“I am not a revolutionary. I do want to evolve the FIA to a better place so I intend to use the processes of the FIA as much as is don’t believe they are independent or free and open.”

He also questioned the appointment of Daniel Coen as a representative for the world council from Costa Rica when the country has no motorsport events listed, which is a requirement of membership.

Mayer quoted from a report into the FIA produced by the Utrecht School of Governance, which studies public organisations in their interaction with the developments in politics and society.

Its report said the FIA score on the sports governance observer index was 45% which places it “among federations that have adopted the formal trappings of modern governance but lack robust institutional policies and safeguards”.

The report continued: “The FIA’s governance structurally concentrates power in the office of the president, and accountability remains confined within a system over which the president exercises decisive control.”

An FIA spokesperson said: “The FIA presidential election is a structured and democratic process, to ensure fairness and integrity at every stage.

“The requirements for the 2025 FIA elections, including the relevant deadlines and eligibility criteria for the presidential list and World Councils, are defined in the FIA statutes and internal regulations, which are publicly available on the FIA’s website.

“Detailed information regarding these elections has also been made available on a dedicated page on the FIA’s website since 13 June 2025 and communicated to all FIA members.

“The requirements related to the regional representation of the vice-presidents for sport, and to select them from the World Motor Sport Council in order to draw up a presidential list, are not new. These criteria applied to previous elections.

“As to be expected, preparing a candidature for a presidential list or the World Councils requires certain steps to be taken. Prospective candidates have had since the publication of the detailed information on 13 June to prepare their applications.”

Responding to the Utrecht report cited by Mayer, the FIA spokesperson said: “The report commissioned by Tim Mayer’s team finds the FIA’s governance practices to be in line with other federations, particularly those ‘that have made progress in formalising governance structures’.

“The benchmarking process outlined within the report does not find the FIA to be behind the curve. This reflects the fact that the FIA has taken several steps to strengthen its corporate governance policies.

“The FIA was not contacted to confirm any of the statements or assumptions made about its processes, policies and administration within the report.”

Witness testimony began Wednesday with an accusation of negligent supervision in the high stakes trial against the Angels by the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Tim Mead, an Angels employee of 40 years, was portrayed by the plaintiffs lawyer, Rusty Hardin, during four hours of direct examination as a well-meaning boss who repeatedly ignored company policy by failing to report the improper conduct of Eric Kay, the team communications director who gave Skaggs the fentanyl pills that killed him.

Hardin brought up a litany of instances where Kay likely violated Angels rules that could have resulted in discipline and even termination long before the July 2019 road trip to Texas during which Skaggs died in his hotel room after chopping up and snorting the illicit drugs provided by Kay.

Mead acknowledged that he knew of Kay’s years-long episodes of bizarre behavior, an extramarital affair with an intern, and problems with prescription medication, but that he never reported any of it to human resources.

Hardin asked if he was putting Kay ahead of the organization by doing everything he could to save him, allow him to regain his health and keep him employed.

Mead responded: “I guess I wasn’t consciously doing it at the time. … I was concerned about the organization, for him, his family and my staff.”

Hardin asked Mead if he was thinking of an obligation to organization or to Kay, and Mead replied, “A bit of both.”

Hardin: Did you recognize a conflict between those roles?

Mead: “Yes that entered my mind.”

Hardin asserted that it strains credulity that Mead asserted he knew nothing of Kay using or distributing illicit opioids when on the last day of the 2017 season Kay’s wife, Camela, reached out to Mead to infom him the family was conducting an intervention in their home that evening.

Mead and Tom Taylor, the Angels’ traveling secretary, visited the Kays the next morning, and Camela Kay testified during a deposition that the Kays directed him to Eric’s bedroom, where he had stashed 60 pills, stored in handfuls of 10 in small plastic bags.

Pressed by Hardin, Mead repeated that he couldn’t say he didn’t do what Camela Kay testified he did, but that he had no recollection of it. Mead insisted that he knew nothing of Eric Kay using or distributing illicit drugs to Skaggs or anyone else.

Cross-examination of Mead by Angels lawyers will take place Friday. The court is in recess every Thursday during what is expected to be a two-month trial.

Following Mead on the witness stand will be Taylor and team president John Carpino. More than 75 names are on the witness list, including current Angels star Mike Trout, former manager Mike Scioscia and several former players who testified in depositions that Kay or Skaggs gave them opioids.

Lawyers for the Angels and the family spoke to the jury for the first time Tuesday, delivering dramatically different opening statements.

Angels owner Arte Moreno sat in the front row along with Carpino, although neither one was present Wednesday. Skaggs’ widow, Carli, sat next to Tyler’s mother, Debbie Hetman. Tyler’s father, Darrell Skaggs, was absent because of poor health.

Representing Skaggs’ widow and parents are two lawyers with decades of experience representing high-profile and celebrity clients — Shawn Holley and Hardin.

Early in her career, Holley, 63, worked under Johnnie Cochran and was a member of the O.J. Simpson defense team in 1995. Since then, she has represented clients ranging from entertainment titans Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Lindsay Lohan, Snoop Dogg, Axl Rose and the Kardashian family to athletes such as Trevor Bauer, Mike Tyson, Lamar Odom, Reggie Bush and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Hardin, 83, represented the Arthur Andersen accounting firm during the Enron scandal more than 20 years ago. He also has won favorable verdicts for numerous athletes such as Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Warren Moon, Scottie Pippen, Calvin Murphy, Steve Francis, Rudy Tomjanovich and Rafer Alston.

The Angels are represented by Todd Theodora, chief executive of the nationally respected law firm Theodora Oringher. Theodora and the Angels have had a longstanding professional relationship.

Theodora served as lead trial counsel for the Angels in the suit brought by the city of Anaheim in 2005 when the team re-branded as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The city sought more than $300 million in damages against the Angels, who prevailed in a jury verdict.

Theodora wouldn’t comment on the Skaggs case because of the ongoing litigation, but after the Angels’ court victory regarding the name change, he described to The Times the all-consuming nature of a lengthy trial.

“You find yourself literally thinking about the case from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed and many times in the middle of the night as well,” Theodora said.

The stakes are high in the Skaggs trial. Holley delivered opening statements for the plaintiffs and said a fair estimation of Skaggs’ lost future earnings is $118 million. She added that the Angels must also compensate the family for “loss of companionship, solace, moral support and financial security.” And, Holley said, the family should be awarded punitive damages “not only because [the Angels] failed to keep Tyler safe, they put him in harm’s way.”

Taking a deliberate, soft-spoken approach, Holley walked the jury through a timeline of Kay’s drug use and eventual distribution of opioids. She said Angels team doctor Craig Milhouse wrote Kay numerous oxycodone prescriptions despite the fact he lacked any legitimate medical condition.

Holley attempted to establish that Kay’s drug use escalated year after year, saying there was “a complete failure by the Angels to grasp the magnitude of the problem.”

Holley said that Kay revealed his drug use in text messages and emails, and that a clubhouse attendant witnessed Kay snorting lines of drugs in a kitchen area outside the Angels clubhouse.

Citing evidence in Kay’s criminal trial — he is serving 22 years in prison for supplying Skaggs with fentanyl — Holley said Kay used his Angels email address to purchase illicit drugs on the website OfferUp.

By 2019, Kay’s drug usage had reached a point that he went through an outpatient treatment program that ended shortly before the Angels went on the road trip to Texas during which Skaggs died. Holley contended that human resources requires a “fitness for duty exam” before returning to work following a drug rehab stint.

“The Angels, again, did nothing,” she said. “So less than two months after learning Eric Kay had been dealing drugs to players, two months after Eric Kay overdoses and less than a month after outpatient rehab ended, the Angels decided to send Kay on the road trip. Within hours, Tyler Skaggs was dead.”

Theodora countered by saying the team “knows right from wrong,” and that it was Skaggs who engaged in “reckless choices that we teach our children and grandchildren not to do, for good reason.”

Theodora pointed out that in addition to the counterfeit fentanyl pill that Skaggs chopped up and snorted the July 2019 night he died in a Texas hotel room, he had a blood-alcohol level of .140 and a therapeutic level of oxycodone.

“The evidence will show he was not playing through pain, he was not prescribed these pills,” Theodora said. “It is downright shameless for anyone to say it was justified for someone to chop up and snort opioids, that they were just being used to get through a long season.”

Skaggs was involved in three crimes, Theodora said, “one, criminal possession; two, taking or ingesting illicit drugs; and three — as you’ll hear from five players — Tyler was distributing illicit pills to them.”

Opening statements and Mead’s testimony underscored the reasons a recent one-day settlement conference between the two sides went nowhere,

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Southlake, Texas, on July 1, 2019, before the Angels were scheduled to start a series against the Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County medical examiner found that in addition to the opioids, Skaggs had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12. The autopsy determined he died from asphyxia after aspirating on his own vomit, and that his death was accidental.

Prosecutors alleged Kay sold opioids to Skaggs and at least five other professional baseball players from 2017 to 2019. Several players testified during the trial about obtaining illicit oxycodone pills from Kay.

The Skaggs family filed their lawsuit in June 2021, alleging the Angels knew, or should have known, that Kay was supplying drugs to Skaggs and other players. Testimony during Kay’s criminal trial established that Kay was also a longtime user of oxycodone and that the Angels knew it.

The Angels responded by saying that a former federal prosecutor the team hired to conduct an independent investigation into Skaggs’ death determined no team executives were aware or informed of any employee providing opioids to any player.

Fox College Football tweeted that “The Jerry Neuheisel Era has begun with the Bruins.”

ESPN personality Pat McAfee added to the chorus of adoration for UCLA’s new playcaller, tweeting that Neuheisel “just might be a football wizard.”

Other media and sports betting sites tweeting about the Bruins’ turnaround from 0-4 to darlings of the college football world prominently featured pictures of the blond-haired assistant coach.

It was enough to prompt the sports media website Awful Announcing to ask: “Does anyone know that Tim Skipper is actually UCLA’s interim head coach, not Jerry Neuheisel?”

Having been preoccupied with saving a season, Skipper acknowledged being blissfully unaware of any narratives about who’s done what to spark his team’s turnabout.

“I guess it’s good that I don’t get on social media and all that stuff right now because I don’t feel that way,” Skipper said Monday when asked about the notion that he wasn’t getting proper credit. “But I don’t really know what’s happening in the outside world [because] I’m in this [practice] building so much.

“But I love what I’m doing, I’m just working, man, and I just try to put us in the best position to be successful on Saturday.”

Part of any credit distortion might be associated with Skipper having presided over the Bruins’ 17-14 loss to Northwestern after replacing DeShaun Foster. The next week, Neuheisel was elevated to playcaller, helping the Bruins (2-4 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) revive a dreadful offense and roll up a combined 80 points during victories over Penn State and Michigan State.

In truth, there have been enough fingerprints on UCLA’s resurgence to leave countless smudge marks.

UCLA coach Tim Skipper stands on the sideline during the Bruins’ win over Penn State on Oct. 4.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Skipper has provided energy, meticulousness and drive, and his motivational tactics — including leaving printouts asking “ARE YOU A ONE-HIT WONDER?” on players’ seats on the team plane last week — had their intended effect during a runaway victory over Michigan State.

Neuheisel has undoubtedly elevated an offense that struggled mightily under predecessor Tino Sunseri.

Kevin Coyle, the de facto defensive coordinator who was brought in before the Northwestern game to replace Ikaika Malloe, has unleashed an aggressive, disciplined style that has largely compensated for shortcomings that were previously exposed.

There’s also been a host of other contributors, from the scouting staff that helped identify the weakness leading to a successful onside kick against Penn State, to the security guards outside Drake Stadium who continually encouraged players walking into practice amid loss after loss to start the season.

And, of course, don’t forget the players — quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s leadership and poise alongside a slew of others who have risen to the moment after so much early struggle.

The Bruins are favored against Maryland (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday at the Rose Bowl for the first time since they faced New Mexico, and it might be easy to envision their success snowballing. But Skipper said he wasn’t going to introduce the idea of making a bowl game as his next motivational device.

“I’m all about the moment that you’re in, man,” Skipper said. “… This week, kind of, [the mantra] is the standard is the standard and don’t get bored with success. We have to keep doing what we’re doing and always be on the rise, you know?”

As he neared the one-month mark since his Sept. 14 promotion, Skipper acknowledged having initially worried about keeping his roster intact since players could enter the transfer portal or redshirt.

“When I first took over, it was, like, every time I talked to you guys, everybody was asking about who’s redshirting, who’s going to the portal?” Skipper said. “That was the theme that was, like, the No. 1 question. And we’ve been able to keep the team intact, you know, and that’s an everyday thing. I think we’ve shown them that, hey, we can make it, make it a good environment here, even though we have all this change and stuff, just stick with us and we’re going to be all right.”

A clean locker room and the smiles and excitement that come with winning have been among the big changes in the aura around the team that Skipper said he’s noticed since taking over.

“It looks like the guys are in good spirits and things like that, and they know that tomorrow’s gonna be a work day and they better be ready to go,” Skipper said. “But I think we’re giving the guys the ‘why’ and the reasons why we do things, and that’s helping them know what to expect.”

Put me in, coach

UCLA unveiled a sturdy offensive weapon late in the third quarter against Michigan State.

It was Siale Taupaki, a 337-pound defensive lineman used as a blocker when the Bruins reached the red zone. Going in motion on a direct snap to running back Jaivian Thomas, Taupaki flattened a defender as Thomas scored on the second-and-goal play.

“He was begging to be able to do something on the offensive side,” Skipper said of the redshirt junior, who has vacillated between the offensive and defensive lines during his seven seasons with the team. “Sure enough, he went out there and did his job, so that gave us some juice on the sideline and it was good to see.”

Etc.

Skipper said the team’s improved tackling in recent weeks was more of a function of fundamentals than scheme. “We do drills when we get [individual] time that are specifically to use your weapons — your eyes, feet and hands,” Skipper said, “and we’re learning how to wrap up and move our feet on contact because the hardest thing to do is re-start your feet when they stop.” … The University of California regents are scheduled to meet in a closed session Tuesday in San Francisco to discuss the compensation package that will be made available to UCLA’s next coach.

“The Chair Company,” premiering Sunday on HBO, is a conspiracy comedy — dark comedy, one would definitely have to say — in which Tim Robinson goes down a rabbit hole, from one carrot to the next, after a chair collapses beneath him. It’s a thriller in its way; there will be suspense, and injuries, and a lot of screaming, mostly by the star.

Robinson, who co-created the series with Zach Kanin (who also co-created Robinson’s Netflix sketch show, “I Think You Should Leave”), is a difficult hero. His main shtick is the madman underneath a cracking veneer of civilization; physically, he projects a sort of eccentric normality, like a critique of normal. From the beginning of “The Chair Company,” we see that Robinson’s Ron Trosper is tense and nervous and can’t relax, getting into a argument with a waitress over what and what isn’t a mall — he’s been named to lead the development of a new one in Canton, Ohio. (The action all takes place in the state.)

A presentation he’d been dreading goes well, but as he sits back down, his chair — a standard office model — collapses under him, robbing him of a moment of triumph. What most would throw off with a joke sets Ron on edge, and he begins an obsessive quest to track down the manufacturer. But all he comes up with are dead ends and empty offices, and he begins to suspect a conspiracy. When, getting into his car, he’s hit on the head with a pipe and told to stop asking about the chair, it only makes him more determined to uncover it. Lurking, sneaking and stealing will ensue. Reckless behavior. Shouting.

Along with some standard office comedy involving HR reports and Ron’s “know it when I see it” boss (Lou Diamond Phillips, aging gracefully), there is a family element. Wife Barb (Lake Bell) is moving ahead with plans to develop a more attractive breast pump. Daughter Natalie (Sophia Lillis) is getting married to her girlfriend, and wants to change the venue at the last moment to a haunted house. Son Seth (Will Price), a basketball player apparently of enough talent to mention it in the series, has discovered the pleasures of drinking just as recruiters are coming around. It’s not a developed thread, but it gives Price the opportunity to deliver my favorite line in the series: “Some nights I’ll have like four beers and I’ll sit in my room and I’ll put on Abbott and Costello after I’ve had a couple; it makes me feel good to know that [these] two guys found each other because they both seem so different.” Which is a theme of the show.

The character who makes the series breathe is Mike Santini (Joseph Tudisco), the person wielding the pipe. Ron will track him down, and eventually they’ll become partners in his investigation and, after a fashion, friends. (Though Ron is not always friendly.) Mike is the series’ most original conception, and, in a strange way, its heart — someone not beyond taking money from a stranger to hit another stranger over the head, but sympathetic. Lonely, he craves the connection. Ron, for his part, is forever running out on his family to join Mike in some misadventure.

Robinson, the rare “Saturday Night Live” worker who went from performer to writer, is quite adept at playing this character, which makes Ron exhausting company; it takes a certain sort of stamina, or a love for, this particular brand of chaos to put up with him. It seems hardly credible at times that he’s successfully helped raise two rational children, one to adulthood; has attained an upper-middle-class life (with Lake Bell!); and occupies a position of creative responsibility. There are difficult comic characters you’re nevertheless happy to see — Larry David, because he’s so centered in his world and basically right, Lucille Ball because she’s a genius. But Ron spends so much time at DEFCON 1, dialed up past 11, that it can be off-putting, and drowns out the human inside.

Nevertheless, like any mystery, it draws you along, waiting for answers. Seven episodes of eight were released to reviewers; the seventh ends on what feels like a note of quiet irresolution — if not, in Ron’s mind, satisfaction. But the eighth will surely not let things rest, and you may rest assured — and may need the rest — that eight is not the end.