General
Ex-McLaren F1 sporting chief Sam Michael to head FIA Safety Commission
Former McLaren Formula 1 team sporting director Sam Michael has been announced as the new president of the FIA’s Safety Commission, replacing Sir Patrick Head.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Feb 5, 2022, 2:35 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Safety Commission looks at accidents and safety equipment issues in all forms of four-wheel motor sport, and its most high profile recent investigation involved Romain Grosjean’s crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Michael is of one of many appointments that were confirmed in a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on Thursday, the first to be chaired by new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Michael began his F1 career as an engineer with Lotus in 1993, before moving to Jordan after the Hethel team closed its doors.
He then went to Williams in 2001, where he progressed through various roles, including those of chief operations engineer and technical director.
He moved to McLaren at the end of 2011, before quitting F1 and returning to his native Australia after the 2014 season.
He worked for several years as an advisor to the Triple Eight Supercars team, while more recently his focus has been outside racing as CEO of Ox Mountain, a machine learning company that he co-founded in 2015. He is also a part time lecturer at the University of Western Australia.
Michael first had a close involvement with safety matters when he was invited to become a director of the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety in 2016.
The following year he became an advisor to the FIA’s Research Working Group, a body of engineers that among other tasks reviews new safety devices.
The 50-year-old Michael also has a seat on the FIA Single Seater Commission. That body was previously headed by former Force India boss Robert Fernley, but the role is not currently filled on the FIA’s latest list.
Among other changes within the FIA structure Felipe Massa has moved from the presidency of the CIK International Karting Commission to head the Drivers’ Commission, replacing Tom Kristensen.
The latter was part of the team of Ben Sulayem’s rival for the FIA presidency, Graham Stoker.
Massa’s replacement at the Karting Commission is India’s Akbar Ebrahim.
Meanwhile, Deborah Mayer has succeeded Michele Mouton as the president of the Women in Motorsport commission.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Deborah Mayer appointed President of FIA Women in Motorsport Commission
Next article Solberg-led Team Norway wins ROC Nations Cup
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
3 h
Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027
Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal
Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
5 h
Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
General
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe