FIA loses two high-profile officials in blow to F1 governing body

The FIA has lost two senior officials, with Director of Communications Luke Skipper and Secretary General for Mobility Jacob Bangsgaard both leaving for new opportunities elsewhere.

Luke Skipper and Jacob Bangsgaard leave the FIA

While there has been no official statement from the FIA regarding the departures of Skipper and Bangsgaard, a spokesperson confirmed to PlanetF1.com that the duo have left the governing body.

Skipper was announced in August 2022 to take on the newly-created role of director of communications and public affairs, having joined the FIA after seven years with Weber Shandwick – the world’s second-largest communications agency.

Prior to that, he worked for the SNP in the Scottish Parliament, the European Parliament, and as Chief of Staff at the House of Commons.

The Canadian was tasked with delivering a “new, proactive communications and public affairs strategy,” working closely with President Mohammed Ben Sulayem to “ensure the FIA is the global voice of mobility and motorsport”.

Bangsgaard has been Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism for the last 12 months, having previously founded and served as CEO of European Policy Research since 1997. He has also worked for the FIA as a Director General and for the FIA Foundation.

The resignations are the latest confirmed after several high-profile exits over the past two years. In late 2022, Sporting Director Steve Nielsen and Singel-Seater Technical Director Tim Goss stepped down – Nielsen was replaced by Tim Malyon, while Goss was replaced by Nikolas Tombazis.

Nielsen has since returned to working with FOM, while Goss joined VCARB as chief technical officer earlier this year.

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Earlier this year, Deborah Mayer departed the FIA from her role as head of the Women in Motorsport Commission while, in May, the FIA’s first CEO, Natalie Robyn, resigned – she had been appointed by Ben Sulayem in late 2022 as part of a restructuring of the governing body’s management.

While there’s nothing to suggest the most recent resignations are for any other reason other than pursuing new career opportunities, they do coincide with a fresh wave of controversy involving President Ben Sulayem.

A recent tweak to the International Sporting Code opened up the possibility for the governing body to sanction drivers across its motorsport programmes for “Any misconduct”, leading to the FIA hitting Max Verstappen with a punishment for using an expletive during the press conference for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen promptly worked to rule for the rest of the weekend, showing up for FIA press conferences but saving his more elaborate answers for a separate, privately-held media session in the paddock.

This has led to interviews with Motorsport.com emerging this week in which Ben Sulayem has criticised the British media for “convicting” him in coverage, and saying the FIA will never be given credit for its part in turning F1 into the immensely popular worldwide phenomenon it has become in recent years.