Formula 1-the season of 2019 got a tragic start, as the international motorsportsforbund, the FIA, on the night of Thursday local time announced that løbsdirektøren for Formula 1, Charlie Whiting, has died, 66 years old.
on Thursday morning local time, he was hit by a blood clot.
Charlie Whiting has been a part of Formula 1 since 1977, where he worked for Hesketh, after which he moved to Brabham in the 1980s.
He was employed by the FIA in 1988 and has been the so-called ‘Race Director’ for the Formula 1 since 1997.
- Charlie Whiting was an excellent Race Director, a central and incomparable person in the Formula 1, which was the embodiment of the ethics and the spirit of this amazing sport. Formula 1 has lost a faithful and charismatic ambassador in Charlie, says Jean Todt, president of FIA.
Liberty Media's sports boss Ross Brawn was crushed:
- I have known Charlie all my racingliv. We worked together as mechanics, became friends and have spent so much time together on the racetracks all over the world. I was filled with unimaginable sorrow when I heard the tragic news. I'm crushed. It is not only a great loss for me personally, but for the entire Formula 1 family.
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As the tv-viewer did you hear the most to Charlie Whiting when the drivers or pitvæggen referred to, that they should speak with Charlie. He was for instance responsible for sending the episodes on to the race stewards.