
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari with Charlie Whiting Race Director FIA
Formula 1 icon Charlie Whiting has died at the age of 66 less than 24 hours after the 2019 Formula 1 season was launched in Melbourne.
The F1 world was rocked on Thursday morning as it awoke to the announcement that race director Whiting had died from a pulmonary embolism in the southern Australian city where he was due to work this weekend.
FIA president Jean Todt says Formula One has lost "a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador".
Speaking on Charlie Whiting's demise, FIA President Jean Todt said, "It is with vast sadness that I learned of Charlie's sudden passing". Charlie was a great race director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport.
Members of the FIA were also seen wearing black armbands in the paddock to commemorate the passing of Whiting on Thursday.
Australian Michael Masi, a previous deputy race director of the local V8 Supercars series who has served as a steward at Formula One and Formula E, will replace Whiting for the Melbourne weekend.
"What he did for this sport, I mean, his commitment.he really was a pillar", five times world champion Lewis Hamilton told reporters.
Ross Brawn, Managing Director, Motorsports, Formula 1 said: "I have known Charlie for all of my racing life".
Man uses mobile phone as shield in alleged bow and arrow attack
Police said the incident happened in the New South Wales town of Nimbin, about 180km (110 miles) south of Brisbane, on Wednesday. He said he noticed another man, who is known to him, standing outside his property allegedly armed with a bow and arrow.
"Charlie was a great man who will be sadly missed by the entire Formula 1 paddock and the wider motorsport community". "His thoughts go to his family, friends and close ones". Hard to grasp when someone is just not there anymore.
Whiting was previously associated with former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team as the chief mechanic and then as a chief engineer.
"I'm shocked, I don't think I have much to add but I think our thoughts from the paddock, from all of sports and all of Formula 1 are with him and his family in these hard circumstances".
"He was a man with great integrity who performed a hard role in a balanced way", he said.
He began his sojourn with F1 back in 1977 with the Hesketh team before shifting to Brabham for 1978.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto praised Whiting's diplomatic presence in the high-speed sport.
"Charlie did so much for this sport and helping push on so many areas for the drivers and their safety", he said. "A tireless and enlightened motorsport expert, he helped make F1 safer and better. Our sport is diminished by his passing".
Recommended News
-
Facebook's chief product officer and head of Whatsapp are leaving
It's a huge job for Zuckerberg and all the leaders of Facebook's apps, so it's not going to be an easy job for anyone involved. Numerous changes Zuckerberg outlined involve duplicating some of WhatsApp's features in Facebook's other messaging apps.Khloe Kardashian 'upset over Tristan's lack of interest in baby True'
Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian have officially called it quits after the Jordyn Woods' cheating scandal. Khloe could see the cracks starting to appear in their relationship when Tristan didn't want to get married.Hamilton laps up crowd's cheers at F1 season launch party in Melbourne
He continued: "We'll obviously try to have a great, smooth weekend". "I hope that this year we get to have a lot of fun". -
49ers snag Coleman on 2-year, $10M deal
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan coached Coleman in Atlanta, and he has long admired and respected his work. McKinnon tore his ACL in September after inking a four-year, $30-million deal.Theresa May’s Brexit revisions appear headed for defeat in British House vote
The two sides also agreed to continue working on technology that would do away with the need for border checks. However, the text of the 585-page withdrawal agreement remains unchanged.Malaysia won't drop case against Vietnamese in Kim killing
The decision means that Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam will remain as the only suspect in the case still behind bars. CCTV footage showed one of them placing her hands over his face, then both women leaving the scene. -
Scientists sign petition saying that AirPods can cause cancer
The petition adds that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said that EMF is "possibly carcinogenic". The petition signed by the scientists notes that children are more vulnerable to the effects of EMF.Elon Musk's lawyers: SEC contempt motion "smacks of retaliation and censorship"
In other words, this will be meaningfully smaller and cheaper than Tesla's current SUV: the Model X. The Model Y will have a slightly shorter range than the Model 3 despite the identical battery.Flight staff threaten to remove woman for 'inappropriate outfit'
She said the flight manager, along with four other staff, then told her to put on a jacket or be removed from the plane. I was physically shaking, and they could see that, yet they continued to sexualise and ridicule me. -
Khawaja, bowlers humble India in series decider
The record is held by former Windies pacer Patrick Paterson who took 17 wickets in 1987/88. Virat Kohli had said that this is India's most likely playing XI for World Cup.Pizza Pizza is offering $3.14 pizzas March 14 only
Mountain Mike's is offering $5 off any "mountain-sized" pizza (that's a really big pizza) and $3 off any large-sized pizza. Marie Callender's: Get a free slice of pie at Marie Callender's with the purchase of an adult entree.Ernesto Valverde: Leo's awesome game was incredible
I thought maybe Atletico would be stronger, but Juventus overwhelmed them and Cristiano had a magical night with the three goals'. Now, all eyes will be on Lionel Messi tonight to see if he can do something equally as mesmerising against Lyon in the last 16.