Insight: Why SRO’s High Profile Paddock Hire Wants to Blend In
The story of veteran race director Niels Wittich's unconventional move from Formula 1 to GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS...
While it is relatively common for ex-Formula 1 drivers to seek out new homes in sports car racing after losing their seats, direct moves from F1 to GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS are virtually unheard of. But there is another high-profile paddock figure who reached the pinnacle of his profession who, not too long ago, made exactly that move.
The person in question is not a driver, nor a team boss, nor even an engineer. Instead, it’s Niels Wittich, who joined SRO Motorsports Group last year to serve as the new GTWC Europe race director, having held a similar role in F1 until the fall of 2024.
Wittich was rather thrust into the spotlight in 2022 after the defenestration of his immediate predecessor Michael Masi, the person in charge at the time of F1’s infamous title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021. Initially, the German shared the race director role with FIA World Endurance Championship race director Eduardo Freitas before taking on the role solo for the final races of 2022, plus the full 2023 season and most of 2024.
That was until he was suddenly dumped by the FIA after that year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, for reasons that still haven’t been adequately explained to Wittich to this day.
“It appears that the President of the FIA [Mohammed Ben Sulayem] decided for whatever reason to get rid of me, and I still have no idea why that was,” Wittich tells Sportscar365. “I asked several times, but didn’t get any response. He doesn’t have to do that, which is fine with me. However, it ended, and so I was available for whatever else.”
But F1’s loss turned out to be SRO’s gain, when the latter organization needed a replacement for Alain Adam for the final round of the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season in Jeddah, a venue that Wittich was familiar with from his F1 work.
“It happened by surprise,” recalls Wittich. “When my career at the FIA ended, Didi [Cazzago] from GT World Challenge Europe called me to ask if I could be available for the final round in Jeddah. He gave me a call, because they were short on a race director.
“My first race ever was the final round in Jeddah [in 2024], and then they asked me if it would be a good thing to start for the full season, and I happily agreed.”