Who's getting fired next? Russell expresses F1 drivers' concern

DOHA : Mercedes driver George Russell expressed concern about further departures from Formula One's governing body on Thursday and wondered who was next for the sack after two senior figures left.

The BBC quoted steward Tim Mayer, an American who is also sporting organiser of the three U.S. grands prix, saying he had been fired via text message by an assistant to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Mayer also said he was "incredulous" at the departure of deputy Formula Two race director Janette Tan, which leaves new Formula One race director Rui Marques handling both series in Qatar this weekend.

The FIA had no comment on Mayer and Tan.

A spokesman said, however, that the demands on the race director had become a lot less onerous due to the establishment of a remote operations centre in Geneva supporting race control.

Russell told reporters, after a driver meeting, that there were concerns.

"Just when we've asked for transparency and consistency, we're getting rid of two highly important people in the governing body," he said.

"We still don't have any reasoning for (previous race director) Niels' (Wittich) removal. I don't think anybody was informed about Tim leaving.

"The first I heard about the new race director doing Formula Two this weekend was through the media.

"People have to learn the new rules and that's very challenging for any team. It must be super challenging for everyone within the FIA right now. We'd love to get a little bit of clarity and understanding of what's going on and who's getting fired next."

Wittich left with immediate effect ahead of last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix, which decided the drivers' title, and has said he did not resign. Drivers and teams have said they were surprised by the move.

The FIA