F1 News: George Russell Speaks Out On FIA Changes - 'Clearly Not The Most Stable'

Saajan Jogia | 22 Hours Ago

Nov 20, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell (63) during media availabilities at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Mercedes driver and GPDA director George Russell has revealed his concerns about the current instability within Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, particularly following recent departures, including the sudden exit of race director Niels Wittich. His comments come just days after the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) released an open letter, which raised several concerns with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

While the governing body stated that Wittich had stepped down from his role, the former race director said that he had not resigned, thereby suggesting that he was sacked. The big change arrives with just three races left for the 2024 season, and both championships remain open ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Rui Marques, former race director in Formula 2 and Formula 3, has been appointed as Wittich's replacement, starting this weekend in Nevada. Russell revealed that such an important update was not communicated to the drivers, emphasizing that drivers should be kept informed of significant changes in the sport. Speaking to the media ahead of the race on the Strip, he said:

“We had no idea whatsoever.

“We definitely weren’t aware. It was a bit of a surprise, I think, for everybody.

“Often as drivers, we probably feel like we’re the last to find out this sort of information. When it involves us kind of directly, it would be nice to be kept in the loop and have an understanding of what decisions are being made.

“Time will tell. I’m sure the new guy will handle the position just fine, but definitely not an easy race for a new race director.”

He added:

“I think there’s no secret that some were not happy with what was going on in terms of the decisions that were being made but at the end of the day, I think if you work together with us, we could have helped improve the matter.

“Sometimes just hiring and firing is not the solution. You kind of need to work together to improve the problem.

“So let’s see what this new sort of era is going to bring. But every time there is a change, you have to take one step back before you make the two steps forward.”

Russell referenced the recent open letter from the GPDA, which reportedly criticized Ben Sulayem’s policing tactics and called for greater transparency in how fine money is used within the sport. Neither the FIA nor Ben Sulayem have responded to the statement as of yet. Russell added:

“I think getting things to change, or promises upheld seems slightly more challenging. So, it’s maybe the FIA or the president didn’t recognise how seriously we all felt. So I think that’s why, over the course of 20 races this year and also even last year, we spoke about a number of topics.

“All of the drivers feel pretty similar. We all know what we want from the sport and the direction it’s been heading. We probably feel that we want to do a small U-turn on a number of topics and just want to work together with the FIA on this. That’s just what we’ve felt has not been happening at all, at least directly from the president.

“We recognise everybody’s working as hard as they can to do the best job possible. There is obviously a huge amount of change within the FIA quite regularly, so it’s clearly not the most stable of places and maybe that’s why it’s been a bit challenging to get some of the changes that we’ve wanted implemented.

“If we feel that we’re being listened to and some of the changes that we are sort of requesting are implemented, because ultimately we’re only doing it for the benefit of the sport, then maybe our confidence will increase.

“There’s a number of drivers who feel probably a bit fed up with the whole situation and it only seems to be going in, to a degree, in the wrong direction.”