The FIA has confirmed that Rui Marques will continue to serve as race director for the 2025 F1 season. Marques, who served as race director of F2 and F3 in 2024, was promoted to the role ahead of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix following Niels Wittich’s sudden departure from the role.
In 2025, he will partner with Claire Dubbelman who will serve as deputy race director. Dubbelman, who joined the FIA in 2017, boasts a wealth of experience in the management of the sport. She previously held a championship manager role where she helped oversee more than two dozen series, including F2 and F3. She has previous experience as an F1 deputy race director, having assisted on several occasions, and is a graduate of the FIA’s High Performance Programme (HPP) for Officials.
The FIA aiming to improve the structure of race control
The appointment of Dubbelman to the deputy race director role comes as the FIA seeks to bolster the structure of race control. In recent years, the FIA has expanded its team to include six senior personnel plus a wider Race Operations Team which includes technical support staff and additional personnel at the remote operations centre in Geneva.
The FIA has also developed and promoted the HPP for Officials — an initiative which seeks to develop talented race directors and stewards to facilitate the continued success of the sport. In 2025, at the FIA Officials Summit in Madrid, the FIA launched the newest cycle of the HPP. They welcomed 12 new students — six stewards and six race directors.
An FIA spokesman identified the HPP as a means to “future proof” race operations. The spokesman described the programme as offering personalised training and development to help its participants “reach the pinnacle of officiating” at the top levels of motorsport.
“The objective is to future proof race operations through the pathway created by the High Performance Programme for officials.”
“Offering personalised training and development as part of the Stewards and Race Director Pathway, the FIA HPP works with participants to reach the pinnacle of officiating, preparing the next generation of FIA Officials to work at the highest level of motorsport.”
FIA aiming to have rotate race directors during season
While addressing attendees at the summit in Madrid, Mohammed Ben Sulayem explained that he believed that the FIA should prioritise the development of new talent. He also referenced the FIA’s plans to be able to rotate race directors during the season, to prevent disruptions to series if a senior figure was suddenly unavailable to work.
“There will be new blood and there will be more than one [race director]. That’s for sure.”
“There have been people learning, there have been people working behind all the time. You can’t just throw somebody into this big challenge.”
