Axed F1 race director accused of deliberate move to hamper Max Verstappen title bid

Niels Wittich, whose exit as Formula 1 race director was announced by the FIA this week, has been accused by Eddie Jordan of deliberately using a red flag to hamper Max Verstappen

Eddie Jordan asserted Max Verstappen was not given “a fair deal” as he accused former Formula 1 race director Niels Wittich of trying to hamper the Dutchman in his title fight with Lando Norris.

The FIA announced this week that Wittich has been replaced as F1 race director. The governing body’s statement to the media suggested the German has chosen to leave his post, but he refuted that claim soon after and insisted he did not resign.

In any case, his final race weekend in that role was filled with incident as heavy rain and thunderstorms caused havoc in Sao Paulo. Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix was delayed until the morning of the race but more wet weather caused plenty of incidents.

There were several red flags, including one when Lance Stroll crashed in Q2. But there was a delay between that incident and the call from race control to stop the session of around 40 seconds, which proved costly for Verstappen.

While several other cars had the time to finish the flying laps they were on, the Red Bull racer was one of those who did not and it meant he suffered an early exit which consigned him to 17th on the grid. With title rival Norris on pole, both Verstappen and his boss Christian Horner were furious.

It was all forgotten later in the day as the Dutchman produced an outstanding drive to win and make it all-but impossible for Norris to catch him in the championship with three rounds remaining. But former F1 team owner Jordan was still upset about it as he spoke with co-host David Coulthard on their Formula For Success podcast.

The latter began: “I think it has kind of found its natural place now where the luck of where the safety car comes out is the luck of the racing gods. We have to assume that the race director never looks at things like where cars are.”

But that was where he was interrupted by Jordan who snapped back: “Of course he does, of course he does. Are you telling me that Max was dealt a fair deal? Was he dealt a fair deal when the red flag came out six cars, seven cars later? Come on David, don’t be stupid.

“You know the gods are in Lando’s hands. They want Lando to win this championship. But he is not going to, because Max has outfoxed him. That is it.”

Coulthard replied to say he was not sure whether he agreed that was true, prompting another retort from Jordan. The Irish businessman said: “The red flag was wrong, it was a mistake – he f***** up, didn’t he?”