Whiting seeks to share ideas and 'open eyes' with FIA seminar

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The FIA has held its second annual Race Directors Seminar this week in Geneva, with Charlie Whiting delivering the opening address.

The event brought together 70 race directors from across the FIA’s various championships and international series.

Topics included the latest changes to the International Sporting Code, and the implications of those changes on motor sport globally.

Whiting said that it was an opportunity to share best practice in areas such as safety car procedures, starting procedures, circuit homologation and track limits.

"I think the most important thing about this seminar is to open everybody’s eyes to different ways of doing things," he said.

"There is almost always more than one way to correctly do things right," Whiting pointed out. "The right course of action depends on many factors.

"There are not only series- or championship-specific approaches that might be of benefit elsewhere," he said. "You also have people saying ‘that’s a good idea, we could use that in our series’.

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"That is where the benefit of this seminar lies," he added. As well as being F1's senior race director, Whiting is also FIA Director of Single-Seater Department.

Track limits was just one area that Whiting was seeking input on from attendees. Max Verstappen was denied a podium finish in last year's United States Grand Prix. He was penalised after going off-track to pass Kimi Raikkoneon on the final lap.

A driver debate and press conference was organised the following week in Mexico. However, it failed to resolve the ambiguity surrounding the issue.

Also speaking at the seminar was FIA Safety Director Laurent Mekies.

"Benefiting from each other’s experience, we have aligned over best practice in order to ensure a safe and fair running of the events," he said.

"Just as importantly, we have very much grown as a united community that the FIA is proud to drive and support.

"Many projects to further improve the tools a race director has to perform in his functions were discussed," he said. "[They] will be developed in the course of 2018."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.