Charlie Whiting Death: F1 Unites, Tributes Pour In For Much-Loved Race Director

Formula 1 suffered a huge blow on the eve of the opening race weekend of the 2019 season in Melbourne after it was announced that long-time race director Charlie Whiting had died Thursday morning in Australia. He was 66 years old and died as a result of a pulmonary embolism, the International Automobile Federation said in a statement.

Whiting began his career in F1 in 1977 working at the Hesketh Team and then in the 1980s with Brabham. He joined the FIA in 1988 and was the race director since 1997.

Whiting was the go-to guy for every team on all matters during an F1 race weekend and he played a major role in making F1 what it is today. FIA president Jean Todt expressed his “immense sadness” and said F1 lost an ambassador of the sport.

“It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s sudden passing. I have known Charlie Whiting for many years and he has been a great Race Director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport. Formula 1 has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie. All my thoughts, those of the FIA and entire motorsport community go out to his family, friends, and all Formula One lovers,” Todt said.

Whiting was much loved all across the paddock for the way he dealt with issues and upheld the integrity of the sport. The F1 world – teams, drivers, fans – have all come together to pay their respects to one of F1’s greatest torchbearers.

“Charlie was a true professional and extremely knowledgeable, but more than that, he was a wonderful person, who always treated everyone with respect. A tireless and enlightened motorsport expert, he helped make F1 safer and better. He was a pillar of Formula 1. Our sport is diminished by his passing and we have lost a friend. He will be greatly missed,” Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said on Ferrari’s official Facebook page.

"Charlie has played a key role in this sport and has been the referee and voice of reason as race director for many years,” Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner added. "He was a man with great integrity who performed a difficult role in a balanced way. Charlie was a great man who will be sadly missed by the entire Formula 1 paddock and the wider motorsport community."

Whiting’s death will leave a major void in the Formula 1 organization going into the Australian Grand Prix weekend that gets underway on Friday. The FIA has not yet announced how they plan to replace the long-time race director.