Photo: FIA.com
Just a few days before the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the series lost one of its key figures. 66-year old Charlie Whiting, the competition’s race director, died on Thursday morning in Melbourne after suffering a pulmonary embolism.
As soon as the news broke, messages from all over the world started flooding the Internet, most of them praising the man that has been in charge with all the activity and the safety on the race tracks since taking over the role in 1997.
“It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s sudden passing. I have known Charlie Whiting for many years, and he has been a great Race Director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport,” said in a statement FIA President Jean Todt.
“Formula 1 has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie. All my thoughts, those of the FIA and entire motor sport community go out to his family, friends, and all Formula One lovers.”
Thursday’s morning Formula 1 press conference in Melbourne also started in a sad note, with several drivers - Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Robert Kubica - sharing their thoughts of the man who was with them on the tarmac prior to the Grand Prix for all their racing careers.
Whiting, a British national, started his career in motorsport in 1976, running a team in the British F5000. He became FIA Technical Delegate to Formula 1 in 1988 and was appointed the series’ safety delegate in 1997.
The FIA official is credited with several high-profile advancements in Formula 1 safety, including the introduction of the halo, the headrest, the safety survival cell, and several front and side impact structures.
For now, FIA did not say who will be replacing Whiting, nor did it say who will fill in his role during this Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
“It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s sudden passing. I have known Charlie Whiting for many years, and he has been a great Race Director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport,” said in a statement FIA President Jean Todt.
“Formula 1 has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie. All my thoughts, those of the FIA and entire motor sport community go out to his family, friends, and all Formula One lovers.”
Thursday’s morning Formula 1 press conference in Melbourne also started in a sad note, with several drivers - Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Robert Kubica - sharing their thoughts of the man who was with them on the tarmac prior to the Grand Prix for all their racing careers.
Whiting, a British national, started his career in motorsport in 1976, running a team in the British F5000. He became FIA Technical Delegate to Formula 1 in 1988 and was appointed the series’ safety delegate in 1997.
The FIA official is credited with several high-profile advancements in Formula 1 safety, including the introduction of the halo, the headrest, the safety survival cell, and several front and side impact structures.
For now, FIA did not say who will be replacing Whiting, nor did it say who will fill in his role during this Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
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