"The wrong direction"

Russell attacks FIA: “We’ve had enough!”

George Russell (left) has lashed out at FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem (right) in the run-up to the race weekend in Las Vegas.

(Bild: GEPA)

Mercedes driver George Russell has added to the conflict between Formula 1 drivers and the FIA. "There are some drivers who are fed up with the situation and to a certain extent it just seems to be going in the wrong direction," the Briton said in the direction of FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem before the Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

Russell spent almost half of his time at the press conference talking not about the upcoming night-time spectacle in the gambling metropolis, but about the man who has few, if any, friends in the paddock. Russell called the surprising separation from German race director Niels Wittich a "prime example of the fact that we are not involved in these discussions". The FIA announced the departure of Wittich, who had been in the job since 2022, after the race in Brazil. In a report by Motorsport-Magazin.com, Wittich denied that he had resigned - as communicated by the FIA - because he wanted to move on to other tasks.

Although the drivers had recently repeatedly complained about what they saw as contradictory interpretations of the rules and penalties, parting ways with Wittich was clearly not the aim. "It's no secret that some people were not happy with the decisions that were made. But at the end of the day, he worked with us and I think we could have helped to improve the problem," said Russell, who as a driver representative is one of the leaders of the GPDA drivers' association.

Nico Hülkenberg

(Bild: APA/AFP/Marco BERTORELLO)

"It's not ideal, especially so close to the end of the season," added future Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg. "I think he did a good job, he was straightforward with us. I don't know the background, the reasons. It was a surprise for most people in the paddock." His current Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen put it a little more drastically and longed for the days when Charlie Whiting, who died in 2019, was still the master of penalties and announcements in Formula 1. "That was a feeling of community. Now it feels more like us against them." World championship runner-up Lando Norris said of Wittich's departure: "Things are obviously not going as smoothly as we would like."

How is the FIA reacting?
Russell also reported that the FIA had not yet responded to the letter published by the GPDA two weeks ago. "I'm a bit surprised about that, maybe something will come," said Russell. In the letter, the drivers had objected to Bin Sulayem's reprimands and wrote: "Our members are adults, they don't need to be told by the media about trivial things like wearing jewelry and underpants."

The pilots also demanded information about what happens to the fines. "We want that transparency and to understand what we were promised from the beginning," Russell said. A meeting with Bin Sulayem would not be difficult to get. "Getting changes and promises delivered, on the other hand, seems to be more challenging. Maybe the FIA or the president didn't realize how serious we are," Russell said to explain why the drivers had posted the letter on a dedicated Instagram account. "We want to work with the FIA and we don't feel that has happened at all, at least not directly from the President."