The FIA has taken a major step forward in ensuring the quality and availability of race officials by announcing the creation of a new ‘Officials Department,’ set to launch from the 2025 season.
The governing body’s new department will be responsible for selecting and training a larger pool of qualified and suitable race officials to address the growing demand across all FIA-sanctioned motorsport events, particularly Formula 1.
This initiative, led by Italian Matteo Perini, will oversee a wide range of improvements in how the FIA recruits, trains, and supports race officials.
The new department "will support the recruitment of officiating talent, empower officials at a regional level, improve efficiency, and be a cohesive operational process,” according to motorsport’s institution.
With more than 300,000 officials, marshals, and volunteers involved in global FIA events, the department is expected to optimize where and how support is placed, creating a more structured and reliable system for race governance.
The move comes in response to a growing need for more qualified race stewards, particularly as the Formula 1 calendar expands to 24 races.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem emphasized the necessity of this new structure, calling it "so important."
“You can’t go randomly, you can’t go on: it’s just the way it is. There has to be an improvement,” Ben Sulayem told Motorsport.com last weekend in Azerbaijan.
A central concern for Ben Sulayem is the shortage of experienced race directors, particularly in Formula 1, where relying on a single individual for each race can be risky.
“If you look at our officials and race directors: we have an issue and the issue is that we don't have [enough] race directors.
“So can you just simply go and order them? No. I said it in one of my tweets. I said: ‘You cannot order them on Amazon or Google.’ No, you have to make them, you have to train them.”
FIA race director Niels Wittich.
This scarcity of race directors poses a significant challenge, especially in an emergency situation where the primary race director is unavailable. Ben Sulayem highlighted the risks involved.
“If we take only what we are doing today, now here in Formula 1, you cannot rely on one. God forbid something happens to him, and then by the time you have someone [here in case of an emergency], who is far away…
“So what do you do? Bring someone else in who is not 100%? Let's say, you have one or two spares. How long will it take to fly them here if something happens, God forbid, anything with health or something?
“So we have to be able to meet the level of demand and have to have a pathway that’s good.”
With the introduction of the Officials Department, Ben Sulayem believes the FIA is finally addressing a gap in its infrastructure that has been long overlooked.
“I said [It is] amazing, we have departments for many things, but we don't have a department for one thing which is like a spinal cord for us, which is the stewarding and race direction,” he said, reflecting on the broader scope of the FIA’s organizational structure.
“So now we have a proper department.”
By developing this new Officials Department, the FIA is not only recognizing the critical role that race officials play in motorsport but also ensuring that future challenges—such as the increasing volume of events and the need for a consistent, highly-trained pool of race directors—are met with a proactive and sustainable approach.
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