Method 1 race director Rui Marques faces elevated duties on the Qatar Grand Prix in having to take cost of F2 as properly, following the newest shock FIA exit, Motorsport.com has discovered.
Only one week after former F2/F3 race director Marques took over in F1 from Niels Wittich, who himself was sacked by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem after the Brazilian GP, there was additional upheaval.
Janette Tan, who had been appointed as Marques’ successor and had been anticipated to have her first race in command of F2 in Qatar, has now been unexpectedly dismissed simply days earlier than the Losail occasion.
She had gained expertise as Marques’ deputy and initially was going to be in cost for the ultimate two rounds of F2 in Qatar and Abu Dhabi earlier than doubtless stepping as much as the function full-time in 2025.
Nevertheless, that can no longer occur as a result of she is known to be the newest FIA casualty of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, though the explanations for her departure haven’t been made public.
Tan’s exit implies that Marques now faces a more durable than regular schedule for the Losail weekend as he has been drafted in for F2 as properly – which comes on an F1 dash weekend that already has a extra intense schedule than standard.
The additional calls for of his Qatar weekend additionally come as he faces the third weekend of a brutal four-race stint – with him having been race director for the Macau Grand Prix the weekend previous to Las Vegas.
Whereas the added F2 duties appear loads, the calls for on the race director have at the very least been lessened not too long ago thanks to raised help buildings in Race Management.
Marques may have assist from 4 workers on website, in addition to help from technical and IT departments to assist on points like monitor restrict detection and stewarding issues.
The FIA has additionally labored loads in ramping up what its Distant Operations Centre does, the place one other 4 to 6 folks help with dwell help on an F1 race weekend.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Photographs
It’s also commonplace for the F1 race director to play both an energetic or advisory function in help races on grand prix weekends.
Tan isn’t the one senior determine who has departed in latest days, with it rising that long-serving FIA race steward Tim Mayer has additionally gone.
Mayer, who’s the son of McLaren founder Teddy Mayer, has served on the FIA for the final 15 years in addition to being an FIA delegate in the USA.
Whereas there was no official assertion over the background of his exit, it’s understood that there might been tensions with Ben Sulayem over the circumstances surrounding the monitor invasion at the USA Grand Prix.
The exits of Tan and Mayer come towards the backdrop of a serious rotation of workers on the FIA, ever earlier than Wittich’s exit earlier this month.
In October the FIA parted methods with its director of communications Luke Skipper and secretary normal of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard.
Late final 12 months each sporting director Steve Nielsen and single-seater technical director Tim Goss resigned, whereas head of the FIA Ladies in Motorsport Fee Deborah Mayer additionally left.
The FIA’s first CEO Natalie Robyn additionally stop the organisation in Could after lower than two years within the function.
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On this article
Jonathan Noble
Method 1
FIA F2
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