Formula 1 drivers are happy so far with the sport’s new race director.
George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, declared on Wednesday that he was upset the FIA had suddenly sacked Niels Wittich and replaced him with F2 and F3 race director Rui Marquez with immediate effect.
“And, you know, it’s a hell of a lot of pressure onto the new race director now with three races to go.”
Former F1 driver Timo Glock, meanwhile, told Sky Deutschland: “The way this came about – and I heard this from the drivers – was strange. And the fact the teams weren’t informed beforehand.
“It seems like there’s actually no clear reason for it. I think we’d all just like to know why.”
Another former grand prix star, Ralf Schumacher, thinks the move is “another sign of the FIA’s lack of leadership or thoughtlessness”.
“There’s a lot of money and a lot of responsibility at stake here and from that point of view it is an absolute misjudgement by (Mohammed) Ben Sulayem, who apparently made this decision personally.
“That is of course an absolute no-go,” Schumacher declared.
Even some of the teams expressed their concerns.
“For sure the momentum of this decision is a bit of an odd topic for me because we are at the end of the championship, it’s probably the three most difficult races to manage,” said Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur.
However, after new race director Marquez led the drivers’ briefing on Thursday, and with qualifying done and dusted 24 hours later, Mercedes driver Russell had changed his mind somewhat.
“I’d say positive, to be honest,” he said when asked what his first impressions of Marquez are.
“I think we’ve been through a little bit of an era where our comments are taken on board, but very little change happens. But when a number of drivers spoke about the track limits at the exit of turn 4, 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 heard and we want to see action taken straight away. So I mean, so far it’s been positive,” Russell added.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz agreed.
“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,” said the Spaniard.
“I think the driver’s briefing was one of the best we’ve had in a long time. We also asked for some changes on the pit entry to make the line more visible, and today we turn up and the line was widened with a blue line. We were all saying this was a very nice change and with a very good approach.
“The way we were listened to was honestly very positive and I’m encouraged by that.”
As for Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, he commented: “It’s been a great start, and great to see good communication. So far, very positive.”
