George Russell won’t like new FIA announcement as Mohammed Ben Sulayem ignores him | F1 | Sport

George Russell may disagree with the FIA’s latest move as Mohammed ben Sulayem revealed F1 would have two race directors for 2023. Russell was critical of the decision to have a rotating cast of directors last year due to a lack of consistency between races.

The race director role used to be held by just one individual with Charlie Whiting and then Michael Masi at the helm. However, the FIA split the duties into two positions after Masi was sacked on the eve of the campaign.

Former DTM race director Niels Wittich shared the role with the World Endurance Championship’s Eduardo Freitas. Ben Sulayem has now admitted a rotating system would still work best to ensure there is always a “second opinion” in place.

He said: “There is a process underway. We have a team working on the training of commissioners and race directors.

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Freitas was suspended after Pierre Gasly just missed a crane which was driving on the side of the circuit at the Japanese Grand Prix. Wittich was also criticised over his handling of Fernando Alonso’s airborne crash at the United States Grand Prix.

The FIA had stripped Alonso of his position after a protest from Haas but later reinstated the palace after it emerged the claim had been delivered past the deadline. Wittich was also embroiled in a controversial debate with Lewis Hamilton over jewellery earlier on this season.

The Mercedes star’s former team-mate Valtteri Bottas has also called for a return to having just one director in charge to ensure drivers are aware of the guidelines.

He explained: “One [race director] would be better than two or three. That’s my feeling. The same person in each race, you always have the same person to discuss with if he’s been in all the races before and taken all the feedback and kind of knows our view.”