Change at the top of FOTA

It is three years since the F1 teams got together to form FOTA, here at the Italian Grand Prix weekend and this weekend also marks the end of the tenure as Secretary General of Simone Perillo.

His role as secretary general is being taken up by an British lawyer, Oliver Weingarten, who has extensive experience as in house counsel at the English Premier League, dealing with clubs and with a wide range of issues such as illegal video streaming.

He will be charged with steering FOTA through the next delicate phase of negotiations with the FIA and FOM over the new Concorde Agreement, working alongside FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh and vice chairman Eric Boullier.

Whitmarsh, said, "I'm delighted to welcome Oliver to FOTA, where his experience of Premier League football, together with his commercial, legal and public policy expertise, will be extremely valuable to all member teams.

"The next few years will be a crucial time for the sport of Formula 1 - and, working in close collaboration with the FIA and FOM, FOTA will play a very important role in shaping the future of our great sport. Oliver will play a significant part in that process.

"Finally, I want to pay tribute to Simone, Oliver's predecessor as Secretary General, who is leaving FOTA in order to pursue an exciting career in a very different field. Simone's wise counsel, political savvy and phenomenal work-rate have impressed Formula 1 stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines, and on behalf of all of FOTA I wish him well for the future."

Perillo was brought into F1 by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, with whom he worked at the Italian business federation Confindustria. He has been a great ally of JA on F1, together we launched the Fans Forum concept, which recently had its fourth iteration this week, with an event in Italian at the Pirelli HQ.