The abrupt dismissal of race director Niels Wittich caught many F1 drivers by surprise.
Wittich’s exit was announced shortly after the triple header, marking another recent high-profile departure within the FIA.
Rui Marques will be taking over as F1 race director from this weekend onwards.
Speaking in Las Vegas, several drivers expressed their surprise at the sudden switch-up, with three rounds of racing remaining.
The dismissal comes at a time when tensions are high between the drivers and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, with the GPDA’s recent public statement imploring the FIA president to take them more seriously.
Drivers surprised by Wittich’s exit
George Russell confirmed the F1 drivers were not informed of Wittich getting removed prior to the release of FIA’s public statement.
“Yeah, we definitely weren’t aware,” he said when asked to comment on the matter in Wednesday’s press conference.
“It was a bit of a surprise, I think, for everybody. It’s a hell of a lot of pressure now onto the new race director—just three races left.
“I think for us… Often as drivers, we probably feel like we’re the last to find out this sort of information.
“And when it involves us kind of directly, it would be nice to be kept in the loop and just have an understanding of what decisions are being made.
“Time will tell. I’m sure the new guy will handle the position just fine, but definitely not an easy race for a new race director.”
The need to work together
Russell highlighted that—while some drivers were dissatisfied with certain decisions made under Wittich— “hiring and firing” key figures within the sport is not a viable long-term solution.
He also called on the FIA to collaborate more closely with the drivers.
“I can only talk on behalf of myself here as opposed to any of the other drivers, but I think there’s no secret that some were not happy with what was going on in terms of the decisions that were being made.
“But at the end of the day, I think if you worked together with us, that we could have helped improve the matter.
“And I think sometimes just hiring and firing is not the solution. You need to work together to improve the problem.
“So, let’s see what this new era is going to bring, but every time there is a change, you have to take one step back before you make the two steps forward.”
The exit of F1 race director Wittich could have been handled with greater tact
This was a common sentiment among the drivers, with many feeling the situation could have been handled better.
“Niels had one of the hardest jobs in the paddock, and I thought he was doing a good job with it,” Alex Albon remarked.
“I think he was balancing the whole thing as best as he could.
“To comment on the change, it’s not really my position. I felt like he was more than capable to do the last three races.”
Charles Leclerc noted: “That came out a bit of nowhere. I think we were all surprised.
“The timing was a bit surprising, to do it so late in the season, at such a crucial moment of the season.
“It could all have probably been managed in a better way.”
McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri also gave the former race director Niels Wittich credit for his work, adding that the story behind exit may be more complicated than the FIA’s statement indicated.
“I had no idea that anything was even being planned,” Piastri said.
“I actually heard it from someone else, one of the other drivers, or an article somewhere. So it was definitely a bit of a surprise.
“Niels was doing a reasonable job.
“There were some things that we wanted to improve. Some got better, some maybe didn’t, but I certainly don’t think it warranted an immediate sacking.
“I don’t know how it [the statement] was phrased, but it seems like a bit of a different picture than how it was phrased.”
Supporting the new race director as Marques settles into his role
Max Verstappen acknowledged that the drivers simply have to accept such personnel changes and learn to build a rapport with whoever holds the position; however, he noted that the timing was strange.
“I read the news and I just continued with my day,” Verstappen said of his initial reaction.
“Of course it is a bit weird with three races to go to do that.
“It doesn’t matter if you are positive or negative about certain things—which, I thought in Brazil, for example, there was definitely room for improvement—but it is still weird now having to deal with a different race director.
“Normally if you want to change a race director then do it after the season, and then you have a bit of time for the race director himself to get up to speed with things.
“Then you have pre-season testing, and you get into your role a bit more.
“But let’s see how it goes. They have decided it, and we have to deal with it.”
Sainz and Alonso voice their feelings
Similarly, Fernando Alonso expressed his surprise, but stated that the drivers will “try to be supportive” as Marques settles in.
“We’ll see tomorrow in the drivers’ briefing, the new race director.
“We’ll try to be supportive, we’ll try to help him as much as we can in anything that he may need.
“Hopefully we’ll have a long relationship with this new race director and get things better and better for the future.”
Carlos Sainz added: “I don’t know what happened and I don’t know what’s going on.
“I cannot give an opinion. Just adapt to what comes next.
“Obviously, thank Niels for his hard work over these last few years and wish him all the best. And all the best to the new [race director].”
Approach to racing “doesn’t change”
Pierre Gasly says it will be business as usual in the car for him.
“I know what I have to do in the car, it doesn’t really change my approach to racing.
“There are clear rules on what you can do, what you can’t do.
“And whoever is there is going to apply this rule.
“So it doesn’t really change.”
Meanwhile, Lance Stroll is hopeful that penalties might be handled differently moving forward.
“It doesn’t change my approach on the track—just maybe penalties and all that will be done in different ways now, hopefully for the better.”
