MELBOURNE, Australia — Like everyone else in the paddock, I was shocked to hear that FIA race director Charlie Whiting had passed away on the Thursday morning before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Just how much Whiting did for the sport and the safety of all involved is mind boggling. Countless drivers are alive, or have escaped serious injury, due to his efforts and hard work.
On top of all that, Whiting — or Charlie as everybody in the paddock called him — was a genuinely nice person. Despite his punishing workload and schedule, he would always have time for a chat with me in the paddock if I wanted to ask him something about the technical regulations or whatever. Or he would relate an amusing tale from the old days when he was a mechanic at Brabham.
“I’ve known him for a long time and he’s sort of been our man, the drivers’ man,” said Sebastian Vettel. “Obviously, there are regulations and all that, and then there is us and he was the middleman. He was someone you could ask anything of, anytime. He was open to everyone at any time. His door was always open. He was a racer. He was just a very nice guy.”
Vettel had walked part of the track and talked with Whiting just the day before. Whiting died from a pulmonary embolism on March 14 in Melbourne. He was 66 years old.
“He was very important to the drivers,” Valtteri Bottas said. “There were so many different things he was involved with and really helping us, helping the safety a lot. He was always taking all the notes during the drivers’ briefings if we had any concerns regarding track improvements or if we felt some was odd, it could be something to do with the curbs or how the marshals were working during sessions — everything. He was involved in all of that. He had a massive impact in F-1 and in what it is nowadays.”
Whiting was a classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper.
He began working in F-1 in 1977 as a mechanic for Hesketh Racing, but he spent most of his time working for Brabham, joining in 1978, where he eventually became the chief mechanic. Whiting helped Nelson Piquet win the 1981 and ’83 drivers’ world championships. There were many occasions when Brabham got creative with the rules, something Whiting would be on the opposite side of later on at the FIA. Whiting remained with the team until owner Bernie Ecclestone sold it in 1988.
Next, Whiting joined the FIA as the technical delegate and in 1997 he became the FIA director and safety delegate. He worked constantly to improve safety in racing both with the circuits and the cars. He certified circuits, wrote and clarified the technical regulations, and settled team disputes on the rules. He had many roles during a race weekend, including overseeing technical and procedural matters, doing driver briefings, listening to the driver and team complaints and, of course, starting the race.
Two examples of what he did: He pushed hard for F-1 to adopt the HANS device in 2003. Many drivers were against it then, but now the HANS or similar systems are mandatory in many racing series. Whiting would tell the drivers back then that there was a time in F-1 when the drivers did not want to use seat belts. The drivers in 2003 wouldn’t dream of not using seat belts, just like the drivers in 2019 wouldn’t dream of not using the HANS.
Whiting also pushed hard for the F-1 halo cockpit protection to be adopted last year — another thing many people were against — and it saved Charles Leclerc from serious injury or death in that big accident just after the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Whiting is truly irreplaceable. It is going to take several people to do all the jobs he tirelessly did.
“It’s very rare in this sport to meet such a peaceful guy, a lovely guy, a close friend,” said Sergio Perez. “I have nothing bad to say about him. All my thoughts go to his family. We traveled the world together for many years. He’s one of those key players in the sport. He had such a relationship with all the drivers, with all the team principals, so it’s going to be hard to replace him.”
RIP Charlie.