His co-worker, Eduardo Freitas , also tested positive, but the Portuguese was already committed to the World Endurance Championship event in Spa the same weekend, so he had no plans to travel to Florida.
After the Australian GP, the US is the second 2022 Formula 1 venue to require a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 24 hours before entry into the country.
It is understood that Wittich and Freitas , who were hired this year by the FIA after this same body removed Michael Masi from the position of race director as a result of all the controversy of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, they tested their back to their respective home countries and the teams were briefed on the situation at Tuesday’s meeting in London.
While Wittich still has time to recover and have a negative test before traveling to Miami, it is still unclear what the FIA will do as the possibility of being late or even missing the entire weekend is on the table.
An obvious but unlikely solution is to call Masi . Another would be to call Formula E race director Scot Elkins , who has worked as a collaborator with F1 in the past and would initially also be available.
However, the most likely replacement is Herbie Blash , who worked as Charlie Whiting ‘s assistant race manager until the 2014 season.
Blash was called upon again this season to serve in the role of senior adviser on race control, assisting Wittich and Freitas , while monitoring their progress following the request of new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem .
Blash was present at the first three races of the season, although he was not at Imola due to his commitments with Yamaha in the World Superbike Championship at Assen.
FIA veteran Colin Haywood , who was called up earlier this year to replace Freitas when he was assigned to other events in the WEC, has always been scheduled to fill the role of a substitute during the Miami GP weekend. .
Wittich and Freitas will share the role of F1 race director as the season progresses, although the latter has so far only held a deputy role at the events he has attended. His first opportunity to try out the role of main race director is expected to come at the 2022 Spanish GP from May 20-22.
