FIA Commission member says Laurent Mekies was Charlie Whiting’s designated replacement. Laurent Mekies was Charlie Whiting's designated replacement.

After a short experience in Formula 1 made up of forty participations and only three points, Emanuele Pirro found his rythm in endurance racing, taking no less than five victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also two in the 12 Hours of Sebring, three at the Petit Le Mans and one at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

After hanging up his helmet, the former Italian driver made put experience at good use by working for the International Federation in the difficult role of Race Steward, also reconfirmed for the 2023 Formula One season: “I’ll be there at four or five races, it’s a commitment which honors me and determines me to get involved a lot“, he explained.

And in the meeting rooms of the race direction, Emanuele Pirro was able to observe how things worked, especially compared to the recent past. The sudden disappearance of Charlie Whiting in March 2019 created a real difficult moment for the FIA:

“It was a difficult situation because we come from a long period in which one man, Charlie Whiting, was at the center of everything: race director, delegate for safety, contact person for drivers and team principal“. The former Benetton and Scuderia Italia driver then revealed that the natural successor of the Briton should have been Laurent Mekies, current Ferrari sporting director: “When Charlie Whiting passed away, the system went into crisis: Laurent Mekies who was supposed to replace him was signed by Ferrari, Michael Masi finished we know how, Wittich and Freitas were the best options available, but the alternation didn’t work“, warned Emanuele Pirro in a recent interview for the Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, concluding: “We need to create a long ‘bench’ so that the race director can only grow in that position, you can’t recruit him from outside”. – the Italian concluded.

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