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In motorsport, the race director is responsible for overseeing all operations relating to competitive racing. The position involves promoting safety for events and manages the response to incidents that occur during races.

Roles

They are responsible for the regular and safety processes of the race weekend, including:

• Deploying the safety car
• Managing the marshals around the circuit
• Deciding which flags are shown to drivers at different points of the circuit
• Monitoring track limits
• Pressing the button which makes the lights on the grid go out to signal the start of the Grand Prix

Formula One

In Formula One, race director is employed by the FIA. A permanent Formula One race director was established in 1980. Before this period, the race director was not fixed, and they were appointed for every Formula One race. The role was previously called the "Formula One starter".

The following is a list of Formula One race directors of the FIA Formula One races.

Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Notes
	Took office	Left office
Derek Ongaro (1929–1996)	1980	1987	Served as Official Starter.
Roland Bruynseraede (born 1939)	1988	1995	First individual to hold the position of race director in a full time capacity.
Roger Lane-Nott (born 1945)	1996	1997
Charlie Whiting (1952-2019)	1998	2018	Expected to serve as race director in 2019, passed away three days prior to the start of the season.
Michael Masi (born 1978)	2019	2022
Eduardo Freitas (born 1961)	2023	2023	Wittich and Freitas held the position on a rotating basis in 2023. Wittich departed from his position prior to the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Niels Wittich (born 1972)	2023	2024
Rui Marques (born 1972)	2024	Incumbent	Assuming the role in 2024 starting at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Source:

Single seater racing

IndyCar Series

In American open-wheel racing, currently known as the IndyCar Series, the race director oversees race control, determines track conditions (including flags), and assists with penalties or other infractions. The current race director for the series is Kyle Novak, who has held the position since 2018. Prior to Novak, the race director was Brian Barnhart, who held the position several times between 1997 and 2015. Beaux Barfield served as race director from 2012 through 2014.

Formula E

Scot Elkins serves as the race director for Formula E, a role which he has held since the 2017–18 season. Elkins also serves as the race director for DTM and Extreme E. The position was previously held by Oliver Grodowski.

Endurance racing

World Endurance Championship

Eduardo Freitas is the current race director for the FIA World Endurance Championship, and has held the position since the series' creation in 2012.

IMSA SportsCar Championship

Beaux Barfield has held the role of race director for the IMSA SportsCar Championship since the series' creation in 2014.

References

1. "F1 race director: Job explained and Rui Marques profile". BBC Sport. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
2. "Charlie Whiting, F1's race director, dies aged 66". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
3. "The admiral departs". www.grandprix.com. 18 November 1996. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
4. "FIA confirm F1 Race Director Niels Wittich to step down". Formula 1. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
5. "Niels Wittich: FIA confirms immediate departure of F1 race director with Rui Marques named replacement". Sky Sports. 12 November 2024. Archived from the original on 5 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
6. "Race Control". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
7. "INDYCAR names Novak as Verizon IndyCar Series race director". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
8. Brown, Nathan (22 September 2022). "Arrow McLaren SP hires longtime IndyCar official Brian Barnhart after Taylor Kiel's exit". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
9. "Barfield leaves IndyCar for same role at IMSA". ESPN. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
10. Kew, Matt (25 November 2021). "Formula E race director Elkins appointed in same role for DTM". motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
11. "What Is A Race Director? - Formula E". motorsport.com. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
12. "WEC - Interview with FIA Race Director Eduardo Freitas". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
13. Tunnicliffe, David. "Eduardo Freitas: The man in control". WEC-Magazin. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
14. "IMSA announces Beaux Barfield as new race director, along with other changes". Autoweek. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
15. "Barfield leaves IndyCar for same role at IMSA". ESPN. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2025.

• Formula One
• Motorsport terminology