Charles Whiting (12 August 1952 – 14 March 2019)[1] was a British motorsports director. He served as the FIAFormula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he managed the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspected cars in parc fermé before a race, enforced FIA rules, and controlled the lights that start each race.
Whiting was born on 12 August 1952[2]inSevenoaks.[3] He watched his first motor race when he climbed over the fence to see the 1964 British Grand Prix, held at Brands Hatch close to his family home. He came to working in motor racing himself through his older brother Nick, who was competing in autocross and circuit racing. Having decided to follow a career in race engineering, he attended a technical college and then the Borough Polytechnic Institute, earning qualifications in mechanical engineering.[4]
In1988, Whiting became Technical Delegate to Formula One of the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and in 1997 he was appointed FIA Director and Safety Delegate.[6] In this role, he was responsible for track and car safety, the technical and procedural regulations of the sport and for starting the races themselves. He served as lead official at every Formula One race, being in charge of everything related to rules and their interpretation.[7] Whiting also visited future and current venues of Formula One racing to carry out safety inspections.[4]
During the 2005 United States Grand Prix, Whiting was involved in a controversy caused by Michelin when the company realised the tyres it had brought to Indianapolis were unsafe to use. Michelin offered either tyres with a new specification to replace its seven customer Formula One teams' equipment or asked Whiting to install a chicane in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway instead. He refused on the grounds that a new specification would be a breach of the rule or that the chicane would be unfair to Bridgestone who had brought the correct specification and therefore was able to race safely on the existing track. Whiting's counter-proposals, which included repeated tyre changes, running through the pits each lap, running at the bottom of Turn 13 or observing a speed limit were all rejected by the Michelin teams. As a result, only six cars took part in the race.[8]
In the hours after his death many F1 drivers and personalities commented that he was instrumental to the success of the sport, being described as "a pillar for the sport", a "really nice guy" and "a drivers' man".[16][18] In an obituary, journalist Adam Cooper described Whiting as the "perfect man for the difficult role of referee" due to his calm demeanour.[4]
