Last Updated on November 23 2024, 1:24 pm

The revolving front door at the Place de Concorde saw its next FIA officer depart just days before the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Neils Wittich was recruited into the role of F1 race director following the departure of Michael Massi but with just three races remaining of the 2024 season he was dismissed without explanation.

His replacement is Rui Marques who has been the race director for F2 and F3. His final duties before taking control of F1 racing was to adjudicate at the Macau Grand Prix where he was forced to deploy the red flag no less than twelve times in qualifying, as the drivers struggled in wet conditions with machines they were not familiar with.

Neils Wittich had come in for criticism this season and in particular at the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He was forced to postpone qualifying until Sunday morning due to monsoon like conditions yet come daybreak, conditions were little better.

 

 

 

F1 race director criticised in Brazil

Red Bull and Max Verstappen were furious with the erratic red flag decisions made by Wittich, claiming he had forced the world champion out in Q2. In actuality Max had been battling with Esteban Ocon for track position and was forced to abort his final push run as the pair squabbled.

When asked this weekend for his reaction to the news Wittich had been dismissed, Max was candid: “I read the news and I just continued with my day… of course it is a bit weird with three races to go to do that. It doesn’t matter if you are positive or negative about certain things, and I thought in Brazil, for example, there was definitely room for improvement, but it is still weird now having to deal with a different race director.”

Of course some of the younger drivers will have known Marques from their F2/3 days, but for those who have been competing in Formula One for several years, he will be an unknown quantity.

Rui met with the drivers for the first time after the second practice session for the regular weekend briefing, following which a number of them gave their impressions.

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Sainz reveals positive start with new F1 race director

Carlos Sainz said Marques made a promising start in what by comparison to his work in F2/3 is a huge step up in terms of profile and pressure. “He’s been given a massive task to come into a season with three races left as race director,” said Sainz. “It’s such a complicated role in Formula 1, which you have so many variables to control, I think he’s been given a very difficult task.

“But honestly, the first weekend straight from the go, I think he’s been really good. I think the drivers’ briefing yesterday was one of the best we’ve had in a long time.”

During Friday practice it was noticeable that the drivers were struggling to identify the white line which marked the pit lane entry because of the plethora of regular road markings at that point of the circuit. The drivers requested the markings be made to stand out more along with two changes at corners to help them with track limits issues.

“We asked for some changes on the pit entry to make the line more visible because we literally couldn’t see the pit entry line, so we were very worried about that,” Sainz explained. “Today we turn up to the track and the pit entry line was widened [with] a blue line and we were all saying this was really nice because they did a very nice change and with a very good approach. The way [they] were listening yesterday, it was honestly also a very positive meeting and I’m encouraged by that.”

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F1 drivers write to FIA

The F1 drivers association (GPDA) had taken the unusual step of writing an open letter to the FIA during the three week break since Brazil. They were upset about being treated like children with petty bans on jewellery and favoured underwear when in the race car, together with a recent clamp down on swearing.

Lewis Hamilton too was incensed by the rhetoric of Mohammed Ben Sulayem  who used a rapper trope to describe the drivers behaviour. “With what he said, I don’t like how he expressed it,” Hamilton said. “Saying rappers is very stereotypical as most rappers are black. “It really kind of points towards ‘we are not like them’, so I think those were the wrong choice of words and there’s a racial element there.

At the following weekend Max was describing how bad his car had been to drive to assembled media, when he dropped the F1-bomb. The stewards following Ben Sulayem’s instructions issued a penalty intended to make an example of the world champion, buy ordering him to serve some kind of community service.

Max responded by refusing to answer questions properly at the next FIA approved press conference.

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Russell seal of approval for Marques

George Russell echoed the sentiment of Carlos Sainz revealing Marques had been more than accommodating when listening to their concerns.

“I’d say [it was] positive, to be honest. I think we’ve been through a little bit of an era where our comments are taken on board, but very little change happens.

“For example, a number of drivers spoke about the track limits of the exit of turn four. We felt it was a little bit unnecessary on a street circuit. He made a change to it in the moment, and I think that’s what we want to see as drivers we want to be we heard and we want to see action taken straight away. So far, it’s been positive.”

Rui Marques appears to have made a good start to his new Formula One role but the real test will come in the Grand Prix on Saturday night. Street circuits are notorious for cars ending up in the barrier and his judgement calls over VSC and safety cars will be analysed in great detail.

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Colapinto may miss Vegas race

Williams Racing’s Herculean effort ends in irony as Colapinto’s crash undoes hard fought repairs from rebuilding in Brazil to a new crisis in Las Vegas – The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend took an ironic turn for Williams Racing as Franco Colapinto’s serious qualifying crash overshadowed the team’s monumental efforts to rebuild not one, but two cars in the weeks leading up to the event.

The resilience and grit of the Grove-based team, celebrated just days earlier, was put to the test once again after an accident that left Colapinto’s participation in the race in doubt.

Adding a further layer of complexity to the drama, Williams released a statement emphasising the severity of the accident and casting doubt on the young driver’s participation in the race… READ MORE