He was a member of the Schutzstaffel during World War II, reportedly in an undercover role for the French Resistance, receiving the Legion of Honour for services to France in 1968.

He became a founding member of the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) in 1950, and was elected as the inaugural president of the Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) in 1962.

The dispute led to the Concorde Agreement in 1987, with the FIA—who Balestre had been elected president of in 1987—retaining control of the sporting and technical regulations of Formula One, and FOCA claiming the commercial rights.

Balestre is credited with several major safety reforms in motorsport, including the implementation of crash testing and naturally aspirated engines in Formula One, as well as the decision to ban Group B in the World Rally Championship.

[3] He was a founding member of the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, a French national motorsport organization, in 1950, and in 1962 became the first president of the Commission Internationale de Karting.

In the late 1970s, photographs began to circulate of Balestre wearing a German SS uniform, and he took unsuccessful legal action to suppress their publication.

[1][2] Balestre was heavily involved in what is colloquially called the FISA–FOCA war, a political battle over finances and control of the Formula One World Championships between 1980 and 1982.

Balestre signed the first Concorde Agreement, under which FOCA was granted the commercial rights to Formula One while the FIA retained control of all sporting and technical regulations.