The FIA has appointed a brand new deputy race director in System 1, selling Paul Burns to the position to work with present lead Rui Marques.
This follows Claire Dubbelman’s departure from the FIA in the beginning of 2026 to affix the Saudi Vehicle and Motorbike Federation, leaving the deputy put up open for the opening two rounds of the season.
The FIA has since promoted Burns, who has expertise in the same position, having served because the assistant F2 race director via 2025 and for the F4 and System Regional courses on the Macau Grand Prix.
The Northern Irishman labored at System One Administration as a part of its timekeeping crew, through which he was concerned in signing off the outcomes at grands prix. This was preceded by a interval spent engaged on timekeeping at a wide range of UK and Irish circuits.
He moved to the FIA in 2023, becoming a member of its F1 race operations crew earlier than taking over operational duties throughout the junior classes.
In a put up on Instagram, Dubbelman defined her causes for leaving the FIA earlier this 12 months, stating that “saying nothing leaves room for hypothesis” – maybe to distance her personal departure from a group of higher-profile FIA losses throughout the previous few years.
Claire Dubbelman, former FIA deputy race director
Photograph by: Li Chao Paddocker – NurPhoto – Getty Photographs
“After virtually a decade on the FIA, I felt that I had reached a degree the place I had maximised each alternative accessible to me inside the organisation,” she wrote.
“This transfer just isn’t about strolling away from the FIA, however moving into a task in a brand new atmosphere that challenges me on the subsequent degree.
“It supplies me with a perspective to contribute and develop the game in a approach that I did not see doable in my earlier position. I’m genuinely enthusiastic about being in Saudi [Arabia] and there’s a lot alternative right here.
“By being right here, I really feel like I’m a part of its future, serving to the Saudi Motorsport Federation to pave the way in which; facilitating expertise and infrastructure for the game to thrive.”
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