Wittich backed after FIA departure: 'He was completely impartial'

According to the official report, Wittich is leaving immediately to explore new opportunities. Behind the scenes, however, they agree: the German has simply had to leave the field, but he is still being granted a departure through the front door.

Danner would have preferred Wittich to have continued as race director. "He was completely impartial. He was a strong race director who did not interpret the rules, but applied them one-on-one. I have already mentioned young talent. Even if there were suitable candidates, who would want to do this job with all that stress when you can just be fired no matter how good you are?"

Who will replace Wittich?

"Then there is the communication. They just present accomplished facts, which then don't quite match the truth. No wonder questions are being asked," he stated to Motorsport-Magazin.

"Where is the next generation of racing directors who can take on a Christian Horner, a Toto Wolf or a Zak Brown in this job? The pressure is so incredibly high. Good race directors in motorsport are not automatically made for this job [in Formula 1]. With Eduardo Freitas, we saw that not everyone can do it."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton