F1 sporting role goes to DAMS chief Sicard

The FIA has chosen Francois Sicard, managing director of the DAMS singleseater team, to fill a role equivalent to that of Formula 1 sporting director.

The conclusions of the FIA report into last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix safety car controversy noted that “a new F1 sporting director will be recruited (process finalised)”. Sicard will fill that role, although his definitive title and full job description have yet to be determined.

The sporting director title was previously one of several held by Michael Masi, but the job has now been repositioned between FIA single-seater department head Peter Bayer and the organisation’s key F1 players, including new race directors Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.

Sicard’s tasks are expected to include overseeing the development of the sporting regulations, along with liaising with the F1 organisation on matters such as the calendar and circuit licensing. As well as F1, he is expected to oversee Fia-run single-seater categories F2, F3, F4 and Formula Regional.

It is understood that the FIA canvassed a number of people about the appointment, including several current F1 team sporting directors, none of whom were available to take it. While Sicard has not previously had any involvement in F1, the Frenchman has amassed a lot of experience at other levels of the sport and has worked with several current grand prix drivers.

During a stint with Renault, he was involved in the creation of the World Series by Renault, which he managed until the end of its third season in 2007. He then moved to Oak Racing before joining DAMS in 2012. Davide Valsecchi and Jolyon Palmer both won GP2 titles with the squad, while DAMS secured the F2 teams’ title in 2019. He has also worked with Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz Jr, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly at DAMS, as well as in Formula E (see p8).

Sicard’s start date in his new job is not yet known, but is likely to be a few weeks away as he finalises his commitments to DAMS.