Charles Whiting was a British motorsports director.
13 Facts About Charlie Whiting
2.
Charlie Whiting served as the FIA Formula 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 ferme before a race, enforced FIA rules, and controlled the lights that start each race.
3.
Charlie Whiting 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.
4.
Charlie Whiting came to working in motor racing himself through his older brother Nick, who was competing in autocross and circuit racing.
5.
In 1988, Charlie Whiting became Technical Delegate to Formula One of the sport's governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, and in 1997 he was appointed FIA Director and Safety Delegate.
6.
Charlie Whiting served as lead official at every Formula One race, being in charge of everything related to rules and their interpretation.
7.
Charlie Whiting visited future and current venues of Formula One racing to carry out safety inspections.
8.
Michelin offered either tyres with a new specification to replace its seven customer Formula One teams' equipment or asked Charlie Whiting to install a chicane in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway instead.
9.
Charlie Whiting 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.
10.
Charlie Whiting was known for safety improvements in motorsport, such as the halo, which was credited with preventing Charles Leclerc from suffering serious injury at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix saving Romain Grosjean's life at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix and preventing serious injury to Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix after a collision with Max Verstappen.
11.
Charlie Whiting was responsible for introducing the HANS device, safety survival cell, front and side impact structures and high cockpit sides.
12.
Charlie Whiting left behind his three children from two marriages.
13.
Charlie Whiting was posthumously named the recipient of the John Bolster Award at the Autosport Awards in December 2019.