FIA announces departure of two chiefs as ex-Red Bull man takes on major F1 role
The FIA has confirmed Tim Malyon, a former Red Bull engineer, as their new sporting director within the single-seater department.
Malyon will play a huge role in the future of Formula 1, the FIA's most popular single-seater motorsport. He joined the FIA (Federation Internationale de I'Automobile) in September 2019 as their head of research before becoming their safety director in March 2021.
The Canadian-born engineer will report to Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's single-seater director, in his new role. The FIA has also confirmed that Niels Wittich will continue in the role as race director, having succeeded the controversial Michael Masi in February 2022.
Masi failed to correctly apply the safety car rules at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021, which allowed Max Verstappen to usurp Lewis Hamilton and win that year's world championship. There have been rumours of Masi's return, but no announcement yet.
In terms of departures, Malyon's predecessor Steve Nielsen will leave the FIA at the end of this month. The federation's technical director Tim Goss is also on his way out.
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Malyon, who has spent much of his life in the United Kingdom, arrives in his new role with a wealth of experience. He was an engineer at Red Bull for more than a decade before becoming Sauber's head of track engineering in January 2016.
Malyon left that role in May 2016 to become BMW's chief engineer. He was soon promoted to their head of track engineering before landing a job at the FIA. "I am delighted to be taking on the role of sporting director," said Malyon.
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"We have already brought significant change to our race direction operation with the support of the ROC and I look forward to taking that to the next level. We are also committed to a broad regulatory review of sporting matters, and I look forward to applying a sharper focus to those efforts in the future."
Tombazis added: "I am excited to welcome Tim to the role of Single-Seater Sporting Director. Tim has a wealth of motorsport experience and expertise at the highest level. He will play a major role as we continue to bring rigour to our sporting and regulatory practices and procedures, and he will drive the innovation we have brought to our Race Control operation.
"Tim has been pivotal in creating a strong synergy between Race Control and the ROC with the introduction of new technology including artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art data analysis and processing systems. He will continue to oversee advances in that area as well as taking the lead on the evolution of FIA sporting regulations."
Tombazis also paid tribute to Nielsen for being "part of a crucial year of development and positive steps forward in our activities". And he's referred to Goss's exit, insisting the FIA are "disappointed to lose a person of Tim's calibre from the organisation".
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