Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting has called reports of his quitting the FIA role as ridiculed reports that he might quit his FIA role to join a team.
Whiting told media at Monza, “I’ve heard this rather ludicrous story, and I don’t know where it came from, that apparently I’m not happy at the FIA and I’ve been touting myself to the teams. It’s entirely without foundation on both counts. It’s laughable.”
Whiting has been with the FIA since 1988, before that, in the eighties, he was part of Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham F1 team.
“I’m extremely happy doing what I’m doing, and I’m most certainly not touting myself to the teams – and if I did, I wouldn’t do it in the paddock,” insisted Whiting.
“A friend text me yesterday and said that even on TV someone had said I was leaving at the end of the year, that I’d have a year on gardening leave, and then I’d take over as team principal of a team. Well, that’s news to me. It’s complete nonsense.”
Long time colleague, Herbie Blash (who he worked with during his Brabham days) is retiring his position as his deputy and will be replaced by FIA safety director Laurent Mekies.
Whiting explained, “Laurent has been with us this year to learn the ropes, which is normal procedure. I’m absolutely happy with that.”
“He’s a good guy, he’s got lots of experience, more from an engineering standpoint, but he is picking things up very quickly. We’ve got to future-proof ourselves,” added Whiting.
“The reason for [the rumours] is that people want to know more,” ventured Whiting. “It’s not like the old days when a journalist would pop a story in per day. Now it’s lots of little stories all the time.”
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