MELBOURNE, Australia — Only days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Formula One Race Director Charlie Whiting has died. He was 66.
Whiting suffered a pulmonary embolism on Wednesday morning where he was on hand to oversee the annual Melbourne Formula One debut.
Whiting, who was considered one of the most powerful men in motorsports when to work for the FIA in 1988 and has been a key figure in the world’s most popular racing series ever since.
Prior to going to work as an official Whiting worked for the Hesketh and Brabham Formula One teams.
“It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s passing,” said FIA President Jean Todt. “Charlie Whiting was a great race director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport.
“Formula One has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie. All my thoughts, those of the FIA and entire motor sport community go out to his family, friends and all Formula One lovers.”