Las Vegas GP: Sky Sports F1 Podcast on Niels Wittich exit, second race on The Strip, Max Verstappen’s title bid

The “strange timing” around the sudden exit of F1’s race director is set to continue to prove a major talking point in the sport at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The FIA, F1’s governing body, announced unexpectedly last week that Niels Wittich had left the role with immediate effect and been replaced by Rui Marques, who steps up from the equivalent position in F2 and F3.

But although an FIA statement announcing Wittich’s exit said the German official had “stepped down” from his role in order to “pursue new opportunities”, Sky Sports News understands the 52-year-old was effectively sacked from the position he had held since 2022.

The sudden change in one of the sport’s most crucial roles was discussed on the latest edition of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“I just don’t understand the Niels Wittich scenario,” said Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft.

“If they were going to replace him at the end of the season, replace him at the end of the season, bring someone in to shadow him for the next few races.

“If something has gone on that demands he gets replaced straight away then that’s fine, these things happen, people get sacked and we don’t always find out why. But it does seem a very strange time for this to happen.”

Subscribe to the Sky Sprots F1 Podcast now on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Spreaker

And on Marques making his debut in the F1 Race Control hot seat on the logistically complex Las Vegas street track, Croft added: “I’m not saying it worries me because I don’t want to give the impression that I think that Rui Marquez is going to do a bad job.

“I don’t know if he’s going do a bad job or a good job, to be honest, and I’m sure that the FIA thinks he’s up to the task and I’m sure that he will do the best possible job he can.

“But you need experience in these things. This is a high-pressure weekend. So I hope nothing goes wrong, I hope we get a fairly smooth weekend where we haven’t got loose drain covers and we haven’t got tarmac breaking up or we haven’t got multiple crashes.”

Listen to the latest edition of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast in full as Crofty and F1 podcaster Tom Bellingham preview the sport’s second-ever race on the neon-lit streets of Las Vegas on a weekend Max Verstappen can seal his fourth world title and McLaren can take a big step towards their first constructors’ championship in 26 years.