Charlie Whiting

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Charlie Whiting
Photograph of Charlie Whiting at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.
Whiting at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix
Born
Charles Whiting

(1952-08-12)12 August 1952
Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Died14 March 2019(2019-03-14) (aged 66)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityBritish
OccupationMotorsports director
Years active1988–2019
Known forSafety improvements in motorsport

Charles Whiting[1] (12 August 1952 – 14 March 2019) was a British motorsports director. He served as the FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he generally managed the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspected cars in parc fermé before a race, enforced FIA rules, and controlled the lights that start each race.

Early life[]

Whiting was born on 12 August 1952[2] in Sevenoaks, Kent.[3] He watched his first motor race when he climbed over the fence to see the 1964 British Grand Prix, held at Brands Hatch close to his family home. He came to working in motor racing himself through his older brother Nick, who was competing in autocross and circuit racing. Having decided to follow a career in race engineering, he attended a technical college and then the Borough Polytechnic Institute, earning qualifications in mechanical engineering.[4]

Career[]

Whiting's first job in motor sport was preparing rally cars. In 1976 he and his brother were running a Surtees in the 1976 British F5000 series for race driver Divina Galica.[5] For the 1977 season Whiting joined Hesketh Racing. Following the demise of the team, he joined Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team, where he would stay for the following decade, becoming chief mechanic for the World Drivers' Championship successes of Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983.[6]

In 1988 Whiting became Technical Delegate to Formula One of the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and in 1997 he was appointed FIA Director and Safety Delegate.[6] In this role, he was responsible for track and car safety, the technical and procedural regulations of the sport and for starting the races themselves. He served as lead official at every Formula One race, being in charge of everything related to rules and their interpretation.[7] Whiting also visited future and current venues of Formula One racing to carry out safety inspections.[4]

Whiting at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix

2005 United States Grand Prix[]

Main article: 2005 United States Grand Prix

During the 2005 United States Grand Prix, Whiting was involved in a controversy caused by the tyres which Michelin had brought to Indianapolis being unsafe to use. Michelin offered either tyres with a new specification to replace its seven customer Formula One teams' equipment or asked Whiting to install a chicane in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway instead. He refused on the grounds a new specification would be a breach of the rule or the chicane would be unfair to the teams who were able to race safely on the existing track.[8]

Safety improvements in motorsport[]

Whiting was known for safety improvements in motorsport, such as the halo, which was credited with preventing Charles Leclerc from suffering serious injury at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix[9] as well as saving Romain Grosjean's life at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. Whiting was also responsible for introducing the head support, safety survival cell, front and side impact structures and high cockpit sides.[10]

Death and legacy[]

On the morning of 14 March 2019, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, three days before the season opening Australian Grand Prix of the 2019 Formula One season, Whiting suffered a pulmonary embolism and died, aged 66.[10][11][12] He predeceased his three children from two marriages.[13]

In the hours after his death many F1 drivers and personalities commented that he was instrumental to the sport and its successes, being described as "a pillar for the sport", a "really nice guy" and a drivers' man.[12][14] In an obituary, journalist Adam Cooper described Whiting as the "perfect man for the difficult role of referee" due to his calm demeanour.[4]

Moments of silence were held before the starts of the Australian Grand Prix and the 1000 Miles of Sebring in his honour, his death was widely mourned in the motorsport world. Valtteri Bottas dedicated his Australian Grand Prix win to Whiting.[15] Jean-Éric Vergne also dedicated his win at the Sanya ePrix to Whiting.[16] He was posthumously named the recipient of the John Bolster Award at the Autosport Awards in December 2019.[17]

At the 2019 British Grand Prix, the FIA decided that his son Justin would act as starter for the race.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "Charlie Whiting obituary". The Sunday Times. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ Who Works in Formula One 2006, page 272, https://books.google.com/books?id=B1ErRfjy4I0C&pg=PA267&lpg=PA267&dq=scuderia+minardi+2006&source=bl&ots=qyQNKtVxjH&sig=ACfU3U28ChIUSxDMMZJEvfrYBCWHoDRIEA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjtvN759cPhAhVFMXwKHViVDfAQ6AEwDHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=charlie%20whiting&f=false
  3. ^ "La F1 rend hommage à son directeur de course, Charlie Whiting, mort à 66 ans" [F1 pays homage to its course director, Charlie Whitine, died at age 66] (in French). Nice Matin. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cooper, Adam (14 March 2019). "Obituary: Charlie Whiting, 1952-2019". motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Charlie Whiting, Formula One race director, dies aged 66". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Charlie Whiting, F1's race director, dies aged 66". Sky Sports F1. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  7. ^ Noble, Jonathan (14 March 2019). "FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting dies ahead of Australian GP". autosport.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  8. ^ Charlie Whiting (18 June 2005). "Correspondence between representatives of Michelin in Indianapolis and the FIA Formula One race director". FIA. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007.
  9. ^ Ransom, Ian. "F1 mourns sudden death of race director Whiting". Reuters. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Jonathan Noble (14 March 2019). "FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting dies ahead of Australian GP". Autosport. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  11. ^ "FIA Statement - Charlie Whiting". FIA. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "Charlie Whiting: F1 race director dies aged 66 on eve of season-opener in Melbourne". BBC Sport. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Charlie Whiting obituary". The Times. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Charlie Whiting passes away: Drivers pay tribute to the FIA's F1 Race Director". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  15. ^ Benson, Andrew (17 March 2019). "Valtteri Bottas wins Australian GP after Lewis Hamilton overtake". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  16. ^ Chokhani, Darshan (24 March 2019). "Vergne dedicates his Sanya Formula E victory to Charlie Whiting". DriveTribe. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  17. ^ Cozens, Jack (8 December 2019). "Late F1 race director Whiting's life recognised by John Bolster Award". Autosport. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Charlie Whiting's son will start Sunday's British GP!". F1.com. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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