FIA running out of people to do jobs, says Sacked steward



A senior steward fired by Formula 1's governing body says the FIA is "running out of people to do those jobs".

The comments by Tim Mayer - a senior steward for 15 years who says he was fired this week - come after BBC Sport learned that Janette Tan, the deputy Formula 2 race director, has also left the FIA.

Mayer and Tan bring the number of senior figures to depart to four in just over two weeks, after the firings of the former F1 race director Niels Wittich and FIA compliance officer Paolo Basarri.

Tan had been set to take over as F2 race director at the final two rounds of the season - the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix over the new two weekends.

But her departure means that Rui Marques will now be race director for both F1 and F2 at the two events, as well as the female-only F1 Academy.

Marques made his debut as F1 race director at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend, following the sacking of Wittich. Marques was formerly the F2 race director.

Mayer told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview that he was "incredulous" at the departure of Tan, who is also the director of race operations at the Singapore Grand Prix.

"She is the epitome of the type of person we want working for the FIA, the best of the next generation of race directors," Mayer said. "I don't know the circumstances, but one would think they would work very hard to keep someone of her character."

The decision to ask Marques to cover off both F1 and F2 in Qatar and Abu Dhabi is against convention. The last time one person did both was the late FIA F1 director Charlie Whiting, who died in 2019. He stopped combining the two roles more than a decade ago when it was decided the workload was too high.

"I know how hard both of those jobs are," Mayer said. "I like Rui 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."

Mayer also addressed his own sacking, and other recent controversies to do with the FIA.

Tan was unavailable for comment.

The FIA has not responded to requests for comment.

In the past year, the FIA has also lost sporting director Tim Nielsen, technical director Tim Goss, managing director Natalie Robyn, along with the head of commission for women Deborah Mayer, secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard and director of communications Luke Skipper.

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