Big news this week as F1 CEO Greg Maffei steps down and FIA race director Niels Wittich also steps down with immediate effect.
Maffei will step down at the end of the 2024 season. He has been with Liberty Media since 2005 and oversaw the rise in popularity as well as the acquisition of MotoGP. Liberty chairman John Malone will step in on an interim basis.
The Wittich departure is a little more surprising and adds to concern over just what is happening over at the FIA. The departure of many senior leaders at the FIA only supports my question about the leadership of Mohamed Ben Sulayem and just how long this will go on before member clubs demand a vote of no confidence.
It would seem to me that being elected to the FIA is a great honor but being the leader who oversaw it’s fall and loss of power, prestige and respect amongst teams, F1, drivers, fans and now employees is not a good look for the organization.
Wittich will be replace in Las Vegas by Rui Marquez who is the current F2 and F3 race director.
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The stories I’ve read mention his “failures,” or at least controversies, but they all seem to actually involve Sulayem or steward’s decisions. It seems like he’s the fall guy.