People

Charlie Whiting

Whiting has been working in racing since he was 15. He started out helping his brother Nick to prepare saloon and rally cars at their base at West Kingsdown, near the Brands Hatch racing circuit in England. By the mid-1970s Nick Whiting had become a club racing hero at Brands, driving his All Car Equipe machines with great verve and enthusiasm. In 1976 the brothers ran a Surtees in the 1976 British F5000 series for lady racer Divina Galica.

Having tasted high level competition Charlie wanted more and he joined Hesketh Racing at Easton Neston, near Silverstone, for the 1977 season. The team closed down at the end of the year and Charlie found a job at Brabham in Weybridge. He would stay at Brabham for the next 10 years, becoming chief mechanic for the World Championship successes of 1981 and 1983 and later rising to be chief engineer. Charlie stayed until the end of 1987 - shortly before Ecclestone sold the team.

In 1988 he became the FIA Formula 1 Technical Delegate, his job to scrutineer the F1 cars. Being a former mechanic and engineer was a great help as he had seen all kinds of attempts to circumnavigate the regulations over the years - and, rumor has it, was even involved in a few himself. In 1997 he was appointed FIA Race Director and Safety Delegate. He is also the Permanent Starter at F1 races and the head of the Formula 1 Technical Department at the FIA.