Formula One’s long-serving and widely respected race director Charlie Whiting died suddenly in Melbourne Thursday, leaving a “huge void in the sport” just days before the opening Grand Prix of the season.
The 66-year-old Briton, who had been at the helm since 1997 and was in charge of everything rules-related in the highly technical sport, suffered a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot.
“It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s sudden passing,” FIA president Jean Todt said in a statement.
“I have known Charlie Whiting for many years and he has been a great race director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport,” he said.
“Formula 1 has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie,” he added.
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