Niels Wittich succeeded the controversial Michael Masi as F1 Race Director but had to vacate his position at the end of 2024 for reasons that still remain unclear. Now he’s coming to the Formelaustria Race Academy Gala to give us a firsthand account.
Wittich first came into contact with motorsport in 2000 through the German Motorsport Federation (DMSB) in the DTM. The trained civil engineer was caught by the racing bug and worked his way up from technical positions to race director.
In 2009, the German became the sole race director for the Volkswagen Scirocco Cup. After several race director positions in various series, including seven years in the ADAC GT Masters and the ABB Formula E in 2016/17, Wittich finally arrived in Formula 1, where he initially supported the race management team.
After managing the Formula 2 and Formula 3 races in 2021, he took over the organization of the Formula 1 Grands Prix for the 2022 season, together with the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas. From the 2022 US Grand Prix in Austin, he then served as the sole race director. In November 2024, however, Wittich was dismissed from his position with immediate effect.
Contrary to claims made by the team of the disputed FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the top F1 steward had by no means “resigned to pursue other responsibilities.” An unofficial allegation was that Wittich was trying to sabotage Max Verstappen in favour of Lando Norris while the two were still fighting for the world championship title.
Wittich is now the permanent race director of the GT World Challenge Europe and an expert for the TV channel Sky Sports F1. In Vienna, the 54-year-old will address the absurd rumors, his “retirement,” and other interesting points.
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