Political Problems for Race Directors

Another one bites the dust. Niels Wittich has suddenly stepped down as F1 race director after nearly 3 seasons. Why so short?

Source: Qian Jun, MB Media/Getty Images

Charlie Whiting has defined the modern role of F1’s race director more than anyone else. After several years as an F1 mechanic, he joined the FIA in 1988 as Technical Delegate and then became race director in 1997.

Whiting would then serve as race director for 22 years up until his death in 2019. His successors have had much shorter time in the role, and this brings into question whether anyone can hang on to the role in the current F1 political climate.

Michael Masi was next in line after Whiting’s role and took over. His time saw several controversial moments, mostly during the 2021 season, where it was felt that safety was being neglected. Of course, most people will remember him for the safety car procedure from the ‘Goatifi’ crash that led to Max Verstappen’s first championship.

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He was removed ahead of the 2022 season and replaced by Niels Wittich and Eduordo Freitas, who would alternate races as race directors. It was almost as if the two were competing against each other. If it was, Wittich would win. Freitas stepped down after a tractor was incorrectly deployed on to the track during a safety car at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, which almost resulted in a serious incident for Pierre Gasly.

For the last two seasons, as sole race director, Wittich has sought to resolve the typical issues in modern F1 such as wheel-to-wheel racing and track limits. This had come under scrutiny following recent inconsistent stewards’ rulings at the US and Mexico City GPs. However, that may not be the main reason why he is stepping down.

Source: Song Haiyuan, MB Media/Getty Images

His relationship has become strained with FIA president Mohammed Bin Sulayem, who seems quite a disagreeable character. Bin Sulayem has become very unpopular with F1 drivers and teams, as he sought to have a much more direct role in the sport compared to his predecessor Jean Todt. Having never worked in F1 before, Bin Sulayem doesn’t seem to understand the way F1 works or doesn’t seem to care.

Wittich is a FIA representative on the side of Bin Sulayem. But it is very important for him to have relations with teams and drivers that he has to referee. It’s very hard (or maybe impossible) to keep both sides happy. Rui Marques, the former F2 and F3 race director, will now have that problem.

With FIA and F1 becoming ever more politically divided, the new race director will now face the criticism of drivers while also being forced to apply the orders of an unpopular president. Marques will do very well if he goes beyond the 3 years that Masi, Freitas, and Wittich failed to make.

Going forward, a problematic president is likely to continue this issue. Rule changes in sporting regulations become more politically motivated (although they always have been).

Bin Sulayem or not, teams have also caused the demise of race directors through ever-increasing pressure and lobbying, as well as the short-term reactions of fans on social media. This reminds me of the problems facing refereeing in the Premier League at the moment.

It's hard to predict the future of F1 politics, but it very much seems that days of long-term

race directors and roles in the FIA are coming to an end.

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