Photo Credits: FIA
It’s confirmed that leading engineer Tim Goss stepped down from his spot as the FIA’s single-seater technical director.
Just three major names have left the FIA in the past month, and Goss is the third one to do so. He is likely to join a Formula 1 team. He matches the likes of the sport’s director Steve Nielsen and FIA commission for women head Deborah Mayer in resigning.
In Nielsen’s stead, the person responsible for ensuring driver safety since 2021, Tim Malyon, will be taking over. No one has yet been named to succeed Goss as far as the FIA is concerned.
“We are disappointed to lose a person of Tim’s calibre from the organisation. Tim has played a major part in the technical department and has always operated to the highest level.” commented Nikolas Tombazis, the director of the FIA single-seater team.
“We understand that his career is taking a new direction going forward and we support and respect his desire to pursue another path.”
The FIA reported Goss as saying: “I believe the organisation is on a firm footing in terms of technical expertise for the tasks which lie ahead – particularly the introduction of the 2026 regulations.”
Respected engineer Goss, the 60-year-old worked his way up the ranks at McLaren, eventually becoming technical director from 2014 to 2018. He became a member of the FIA after being ousted from his position as a consequence of a reorganization caused by the team’s decline in competitiveness.
Who is Tim Malyon?
In 2019, Malyon became head of research for the FIA. Prior to that, he was chief engineer for BMW’s Formula E team.
Before joining BMW in the DTM German Touring Car Championship, the Canadian served as head of engineering for Sauber in Formula 1 from 2015 to 2016. Prior to that, he was an engineer for Red Bull in Formula 1.
“Tim has a wealth of motorsport experience and expertise at the highest level. He will play a major role as we continue to bring rigour to our sporting and regulatory practices and procedures, and he will drive the innovation we have brought to our race control operation.” Tombazis said.
After Michael Masi left the FIA in 2022, Niels Wittich assumed the position of race director and will remain in that position going forward. Wittich is bound to answer to Malyon.
Due to his mistakes in applying the regulations at the 2021 Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Masi was ousted.
On the last lap, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton and secured the world championship for the Dutchman when the Australian failed a restart during a late safety-car period
How will the chaos affect F1?
One high-ranking official in the sport told BBC Sport that the FIA is in “a total mess” after losing three top executives in a short period of time, which is embarrassing for the organization.
Mayer reportedly chose not to reapply for her post once her tenure ended, although the FIA has not commented on her departure yet.
Despite being a well-respected person in F1 and having thirty years of experience in sporting administration, Nielsen resigned because he felt the FIA was unwilling to carry out the necessary improvements to its race-control operations.
In addition to Nielsen’s complaints about the FIA’s internal procedures, sources close to the organization expressed dissatisfaction with the process of developing the new technical standards that will be used in F1 in 2026.
As a result, new aerodynamic regulations and hybrid engines that rely more heavily on electric motors will be introduced.
President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been involved in a string of scandals since his election in December 2021, and the instability inside the FIA, despite the fact that the three resignations are of different types, will cast doubt on his leadership.
Toto Wolff, principal of the Mercedes F1 team, and his wife Susie, director of the F1 Academy for female racing drivers, were the targets of a compliance investigation that the FIA initiated last month, leading to criticism from both F1 (the commercial rights holder) and all of the F1 teams.
There was a great deal of disappointment among F1 insiders at the decision, because many high-ranking officials feel awkward about Ben Sulayem but would rather remain silent.
After a magazine story claimed that another team had brought up the couple’s possible conflict of interest, the FIA announced the compliance investigation.
In response to the allegation, Mercedes and F1 issued strongly worded comments denying it. Upon that, all of Mercedes’ rivals issued coordinated, word-for-word comments denying the allegations. Two days later to its announcement, the ethics probe was subsequently closed.
Several fronts have contributed to the deterioration of ties between F1 and the FIA, which has set the stage for the disagreement. In February 2023, Ben Sulayem said that he would be reducing his role in F1.
His election as president has been beset by controversy, and this latest scandal follows the discovery of sexist comments he made in the past.
Teams have blamed him for a string of incidents in the past few months, including the decision to report Wolff and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur to the stewards at the season-ending race for profanity during a press conference, but he has stayed active behind the scenes.
