FIA appoint NEW F1 Dutch race director in major revamp

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FIA appoint NEW Dutch race director in major revamp

Formula 1's governing body are future-proofing the sport with some major changes

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 23 February 2025 14:56

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Formula 1's governing body have appointed a new race director role to Dutch motorsport manager Claire Dubbelman.

The FIA have now finalised their structure for the upcoming F1 season, with the appointment of Dubbelman as the organisation's deputy race director just one of many steps to future-proof the sport.

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Rui Marques replaced Niels Wittich as race director prior to the Las Vegas Grand Prix last year, where Max Verstappen took home his fourth consecutive drivers' title.

Marques stepped up for the final three rounds of the 2024 season after Wittich left the job, having replaced Michael Masi in 2022 following the controversial events of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.

The final round of the 2021 season produced one of the most highly debated moments in modern motorsport, where the FIA's decision to bring out the safety car and leave just one lap to decide the championship handed Verstappen his maiden win, and left Hamilton and Toto Wolff's Mercedes outfit in despair.

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Lewis Hamilton lost out to Max Verstappen at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP

In 2024, Rui Marques was appointed the new FIA race director

Claire Dubbelman appointed FIA deputy race director

As preparations ramp up ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16, the FIA have promoted their F1 sporting manager to the new role of deputy race director for 2025.

Dubbelman has worked with the sport's governing body since 2017 and previously thrived as a championship manager with experience assisting as deputy director in the past as well.

Following the appointment of Marques in 2024, the FIA have declared that to future-proof the sport, they will be restructuring their race control operations to avoid being caught out by any race director absences for future races.

Dutch motorsport official Dubbelman has proven her talent and passion to work as an official in the past and honed her craft through the FIA’s High Performance Programme.

This same programme which benefitted Dubbelman is now a main focus for the FIA as they look to strengthen their training of officials to help train talent which can benefit the organisation in the future.