Just before the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Formula 1 race director Niels Wittich was announced to be stepping down from his role with immediate effect.

Rumours swirled about the nature of the departure — whether it was Wittich’s decision or not — but both parties largely remained mum. Now, Wittich is speaking out about the affair.

Niels Wittich caught by surprise in F1 race director departure

In 2022, Niels Wittich was promoted to the role of Formula 1 race director by the FIA after Michael Masi left the job in the wake of the controversial call to end the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix under green, without undertaking the full restart procedure.

Wittich first alternated his role with Eduardo Freitas before he was ultimately selected to be the sole race director.

It came as something of a surprise when, just before the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the FIA announced that Wittich would be stepping down from his role with immediate effect.

Fans and pundits wondered if the parting of ways was mutual, or if Wittich was actually fired. Now, for the first time since the decision, Wittich is speaking out.

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Wittich recently joined Sky Germany as a guest commentator during Formula 1’s pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“I saw no indications that anything wasn’t working or that there was any reason to make a personnel change,” Wittich said on the broadcast.

“So, in that sense, it all came as a complete surprise. To this day.”

He also admitted that “no one has been able to give me an answer” as to why he was asked to step down.

Beyond explaining its decision to Wittich, the FIA has never given any formal reason for the race director’s departure at what was a critical moment in the 2024 championship hunt. As drivers raised concerns, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem told Motorsport.com at the time that “it’s none of their business.”

Wittich continued on to reiterate that his attempts to understand the decision have been met with radio silence.

“To this day, no reason has been given to me,” he said.

“And the last time I spoke with the FIA president was last year in China.

“So I can’t say that we had any kind of falling out or a negative relationship. I had relatively little contact with him.”

Wittich’s removal was not the only notable FIA firing last season; shortly after 2024 came to a close, former racer and pundit Johnny Herbert was fired from his rotating role as an FIA steward; he, too, expressed the sentiment that all seemed well until, two days later, he was fired.

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