By Rory Carroll
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Formula One drivers were surprised by the sudden departure of race director Niels Wittich and are “a bit fed up” with the leadership of the governing FIA, Mercedes’ George Russell said on Wednesday.
The drivers were already at loggerheads with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem on a number of issues, including swearing.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, of which Russell is a director, issued a remarkable statement earlier this month asking the Emirati to treat them like adults and to mind his own language.
Wittich’s departure from the key role was announced last week, with both championships still to be won.
“We definitely weren’t aware. It was a bit of a surprise, I think, for everybody,” Russell told reporters at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“It’s a hell of a lot of pressure now onto the new race director. Just three races left (this season) … often as drivers, we probably feel like we’re the last to find out this sort of information.
“And when it involves us kind of directly, it would be nice to be kept in the loop and just have an understanding of what decisions are being made.”
Russell said the drivers were united and wanted transparency.
He said there had been no response from the governing body to the GPDA letter and while some were unhappy with decisions being made by the race director, “sometimes just hiring and firing is not the solution”.
“Let’s see what this new era is going to bring, but every time there is a change, you have to take one step back before you make the two steps forwards,” added the Briton.
Asked directly how much confidence the drivers had in the FIA leadership, Russell was unsure but said the body — which has seen several high-profile departures — was clearly not “the most stable of places”.
“I think if we feel that we’re being listened to and some of the changes that we are experiencing, requesting, are implemented … then maybe our confidence will increase,” he continued.
“But yeah, I think there’s a number of drivers who feel probably a bit fed up with the whole situation. And it only seems to be going in, to a degree, the wrong direction.”
Russell suggested the FIA or Ben Sulayem had not realised the depth of feeling among the drivers and that while it was not difficult to arrange a meeting getting promises upheld seemed slightly more challenging.
“We all know what we want from the sport and the direction it’s been heading and we probably feel that we want to do a small U-turn on a number of topics and just want to work together with the FIA on this,” he said.
“And that’s just what we’ve felt has not been happening at all, at least directly from the President.”
(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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