Leaving a hole that cannot be filled
The shock loss of Charlie Whiting on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix weekend cast a long shadow over the 2019 season. F1 lost not only a race director, safety delegate, head of the technical department and permanent starter, but also a universally liked and infinitely knowledgeable character who had done as much as, if not more than, anyone else in shaping GP racing today.
Whiting’s association with F1 cars stretched back to 1976, when he worked on Divina Galica’s Surtees TS16 running in the Shellsport Series. He then worked for Hesketh in F1 proper before joining Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team, taking up a role with the FIA after the sale of the squad in 1987. For over 30 years, his everexpanding role made him a crucial part of the inner workings of F1 and he was inevitably at the heart of solving the controversies and crises that struck, as well as being a driving force in raising safety standards. That his roles have been filled by multiple people says much about the skills and breadth of knowledge that F1 lost in March.
He was also wellrespected by the drivers. There’s no better tribute than that delivered by Sebastian Vettel at Whiting’s memorial, which left nobody in any doubt about the esteem in which he was held by the drivers, who are far from an easy crowd to please.
“We believe climbing into our cars today is safer than into any other car,” said Vettel. “We call them our cars, but a lot of them belong to you. You have not been our guardian angel as angels show up only occasionally. No, you have been our guard, working every day, standing guard every time we were on track. You are a great part of our lives today, more than we know, more than we can express and more than we can imagine.
“Your efforts, your ideas, your love for racing, your love for the sport have helped and will continue to help save lives. Your impact has been so profound that saying thank you just doesn’t seem enough. The marks you left on track are beyond those of a perfect lap, your style was so balanced it seemed like you found the perfect set-up.
“In the name of all the current Formula 1 drivers and all the drivers that worked with you, we finally want to say you were a true racer, you were our race director, you were our guard, you were our friend.”