Deputy F1 race director about merit, not gender – FIA

Feb.11 (GMM) FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has denied that the new permanent deputy Formula 1 race director was selected because of her gender.

That is despite the fact that the sport’s governing body often talks about the need for greater diversity. Indeed, at the recent FIA officials summit in Madrid, the federation boasted about “an equal gender split” among the latest 12 trainee stewards and race directors.

And it now emerges that while Rui Marquez is staying on board as the new full-time F1 race director, she will be joined by a permanent deputy – Dutchwoman Claire Dubbelman.

De Telegraaf newspaper reports that Dubbelman has actually had a prominent role in race control since 2023.

“You cannot simply throw someone into this great challenge,” FIA president Ben Sulayem told mainly Spanish media just 24 hours prior to the emergence of the Dubbelman news.

“It’s very important,” he added. “What would happen if the race director got sick? It’s the same as the FIA. If something happens to me tomorrow, the FIA will continue to function without me.”

Ben Sulayem also bristled at the idea that the FIA would appoint someone like Dubbelman, 39, to a prominent role in Formula 1 because she is a woman.

“We talk about diversity,” he admitted, “but when they say ‘You brought someone from this country, or you brought this person because she is a woman’, that’s an insult.

“We don’t have women because we have to have 30 percent, we have women based on their merit and credibility. Because they are good. Because they are trained and they have the passion. Not because ‘Oh, I have to have this colour, this religion’.

“Then you won’t have a good FIA, a strong FIA,” the FIA president is quoted as saying by Marca sports newspaper.