The FIA has produced a lengthy statement after experienced F1 steward Tim Mayer spoke out following his dismissal, along with Formula Two deputy race director Janette Tan, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Mayer was reportedly dismissed by text message after 15 years with the FIA and responded by telling BBC Sport: “I know how hard both of those jobs are. I like Rui [Marques, F1 race director] a lot, but it will put him under incredible pressure.
“There aren’t a lot of ‘platinum-level’ FIA race directors, which is the FIA’s highest level certification. I’m one of them. It’s a lot of work and, if you are doing the job right, you wake up every day with an ulcer thinking of all the various things you need to be thinking about. They’re not doing themselves any favours. They are literally running out of people to do those jobs.”
The FIA’s latest exits follow the departures of race director Niels Wittich and compliance officer Paolo Basarri and have served to further undermine Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s leadership of the organisation.
One of the biggest concerns in the paddock on Thursday surrounded Marques’ workload for the upcoming Grand Prix. He will preside over the F1, Formula Two and F1 Academy events in Qatar.
To calm the speculation and concern, the FIA released a statement on Thursday. It read: “The demands on the race director have become a lot less onerous due to the support structure that has been implemented in race control at Formula One events.
“The race director is now free to focus entirely on race management without being burdened by peripheral duties. He has at least four people supporting him in race control, a dedicated technical and IT department to support specifically on issues such as track limit detection and stewarding.
“We also have four to six people on duty at the remote operations centre in Geneva providing live support during every Formula One session, qualifying and race.
“It is also not uncommon for the F1 race director and deputy race director to play an active or advisory role in the race management of support races, such as Formula Two and Formula Three.”