With a two weekend break from Formula One racing a number of off track matters have been resolved. Sauber-Audi waited until after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to announce they were taking McLaren’s Brazilian young hot shot to complete their driver lineup.

Then came the shock news on Tuesday that F1’s race director had been ‘replaced’ with just three races remaining this season. The highly unusual timing of Neils Wittich’s dismissal sent alarm bells ringing amongst F1 observers.

“The FIA can confirm that Niels Wittich has stepped down from his position as F1 Race Director to pursue new opportunities,” read an FIA statement. “Niels has fulfilled his numerous responsibilities as Race Director with professionalism and dedication. We thank him for his commitment and we wish him the best for the future.

 

 

 

Five F1 race directors in 5 years

It was announced that Rui Marques will assume the role of Race Director from the Las Vegas Grand Prix onwards, he will step up from the same role he currently undertakes in F2 an F3. Rui will be the fifth F1 race director in as many years since the death of the ever present Charlie Whiting who was first appointed in 1997.

Contrary to the FIA statement, Sky F1’s Craig Slater reported that senior sources within the FIA were saying Wittich was effectively sacked and did not step down off his own volition. The relationship with FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem was suggested to be at rock bottom, but Slater does not reveal the specific breaking point which led to this most bizarre of decisions.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem began his presidency the week after the infamous Abu Dhabi show down between Hamilton and Verstappen in 2021. He inherited the much criticised race director Michael Massa who as expected ‘stepped down’ before the start of the 2022 F1 campaign.

It was decided to appoint two race directors who would share the ever expanding race calendar so Neils Wittich from DTM and Eduardo Freitas from World Endurance Racing were announced for the foreseeable future. However, it was not long before the two became one as at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix Japan, Freitas made a number of haunting decisions reminiscent of a fateful day some eight years previous where Jules Bianchi crashed heavily into a track recovery vehicle which effectively ended his life.

Classic F1 track to be dropped

 

 

 

FIA “process underway” to train F1 race directors

Having deployed the safety car, Freitas then set out a recovery vehicle in treacherous wet conditions, yet a number of the drivers including Pierre Gasly were travelling at high speed in their attempts to catch the back of the safety car snake.

It was a grave error to make in what was a chaotically handled Sunday as officials battled to deal with the aftermath of a typhoon. The Grand Prix began in undrivable conditions and was ended a lap too soon when the chequered flag was waved.

A subsequent inquest avoided apportioning blames to Freitas for the mistakes but did confirm the rotating race director model would be dropped. Wittich continued in the role until this week’s announcement.

At the time Mohammed Ben Sulayem was questioned about the future of the F1 race director role and he used the platform to announce: “There is a process underway. We have a team working on the training of commissioners and race directors. You cannot have just one (director). I think you have to have a second option.”

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Pressure on step up F2/3 candidate

That said little is known about this programme and whether the role of F2/3 race director is a stepping stone has not been revealed.

Rui Marques has been race director in the FIA’s junior international category racing for just two years and prior to that he served in the World Touring Car Championship. The step up from F2/3 in terms of pressure on race control is enormous.

The F1 teams and fans alike have unprecedented TV coverage. Broadcasters are able to access camera angles from each driver, adding to the vast information out there needed to be taken into consideration when making on track decisions.

However, the race director does not decided if a driver receives a penalty or not, he merely notes an incident and the stewards decide whether or not to investigate it.

Williams to miss Las Vegas Grand Prix

 

 

 

Rui Marques emphasises safety

Certain reporting outlets have suggested that Wittich quitting was  co-incidental timing as the drivers and race control are supposed to be agreeing a driving standards document in time for Qatar in just over a week. It is alleged his relationship with certain stewards following the Verstappen/Norris incident in Austin was the beginning of the end with Wittich disagreeing with their decisions.

Whilst Wittich may have disagreed with some of the proposals for the new stewards driving standards bible, this would hardly see him walk out of or be sacked from his role as race director.

There is a hint of a clue as to the reason for Wittich’s demise in the words of the incoming Rui Marques. When asked what is the biggest priority of the role, he said: “The most challenging part of my job is the safety. The safety is always the biggest concern, safety for the drivers and for the marshals all involved in motorsport. That is the main concern in our work.”

Again in difficult conditions at the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Wittich came under heavy fire from drivers and other personnel alike. Firstly in qualifying, a red flag was delayed for 52 seconds while the race director ‘allowed’ drivers to complete their lap.

Norris expresses relief now title race is over

 

 

 

Horner furious with Wittich

“You’ve got to focus on the safety,” said a red faced Horner. “It’s not about letting cars finish laps or not. As soon as you have an accident like that, should be an immediate red flag, because you’ve got a driver in the wall, one of the most dangerous corners on the circuit, you’ve got cars coming through, and you can’t say ‘oh, well, we’ll just wait for the others to finish their laps.”

Later in the Grand Prix similar criticism was levied at race control over delaying a red flag. Drivers were telling teams the conditions were too treacherous to be racing in, with Oli Bearman admitting he feared for his life.

Finally Franco Colapinto had a huge crash coming up the hill in Interlagos and it was this which finally drew the red flag from race control. The Red Bull team boss was again surprised at race control’s delayed intervention.

Hamilton’s debut Ferrari test run

 

 

 

Drivers complain en masse over “safety”

“There were a lot of drivers that were feeling that the conditions were too unsafe. The restarts as well, after effectively an out and an in lap from the safety car when the back of the tail hadn’t caught up, it just seemed over ambitious to get the race going again,” Horner explained.

The Red Bull boss was referring to the fact that after the red flag delay, just one lap was completed behind the safety car before the race resumed.

So as happened with Freitas, Wittich had a questionable rain soaked event in Sao Paulo and it could just be Red Bull’s complaints about safety which tipped the decision to sack him over the edge.

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The F1 teams Perez rejected this year to remain at RBR

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