Danner: Race directors don’t grow on trees

On Tuesday, the FIA ​​announced the resignation of Nils Wittich from his position as Formula 1 race director and the appointment of Rui Marques to the role. Former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner believes the FIA ​​​​has made a serious mistake…

Christian Danner: “The race director has an enormous responsibility. Not everyone can cope with such pressure and at the same time defend the interests of sport and safety.

You have to understand that race directors don’t grow on trees. I believe that firing an impeccable director for no reason is not only scandalous in itself, but also completely thoughtless. Why are they constantly looking for a replacement for this post?

Where are the young directors who can handle this job on par with Christian Horner, Toto Wolff or Zac Brown? The pressure is incredibly high. From the example of Eduardo Freitas we saw that not everyone can handle him. We had someone who performed impeccably, and now he’s fired.
Wittich was completely impartial. He did not interpret the rules, but acted on them. I have already spoken about young talents. But even if there were suitable candidates, who among them would take this job in a situation where you could be fired at any time, no matter how good you are?

And the second big question is: why? You can’t just fire someone, even in business, simply because you think he/she is no longer a good fit for you. If this were a general decision, arguments would be required. But they weren’t there.

At first I thought it was a letter from the GPDA, but there was no mention of the race director. This letter is about the president. Maybe he’s too sensitive.

Diverting attention from current issues is not a reason to fire a race director. Given that we have no new talent to fill this position, I consider this an unnecessary destabilization of the entire system and a fatal mistake by the FIA.”