FIA confirms appointment of Tim Malyon as new Sporting Director

Tim Malyon has been confirmed as the FIA’s new Sporting Director within the Single-Seater department, replacing Steve Nielsen.

In his new role, Malyon will oversee all sporting matters, including Race Direction and the Remote Operations Centre (ROC) in Geneva. He will report to Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s Single-Seater Director. Under Malyon’s direction, Niels Wittich will continue in the role of Race Director.

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The Canadian has had a distinguished career within motorsport, including a 12-year period with Red Bull Racing, whom he joined when the team was previously Jaguar Racing. He helped contribute to Red Bull’s four constructors’ and drivers’ titles from 2010-2013 as he worked in various engineering roles.

He would go on to work for Sauber Motorsport in 2015, becoming their Head of Track Engineering, before joining BMW Motorsport as a Chief Engineer for its DTM programme in 2016. Following two successful years, and one championship, Malyon would then take the roles of both Track Engineering Department Leader and Chief Engineer for BMW’s Formula E team.

In 2019 he went on to join the FIA as Head of Research and was then appointed to the position of Safety Director in 2021. He had a key role in the establishment of the ROC and has performed the operational duties of ROC Project Leader since May 2022.

“I am delighted to be taking on the role of Sporting Director,” said Malyon. “We have already brought significant change to our Race Direction operation with the support of the ROC and I look forward to taking that to the next level.

“We are also committed to a broad regulatory review of sporting matters, and I look forward to applying a sharper focus to those efforts in the future.”

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Following the confirmation of Malyon’s appointment to his new role of Sporting Director, Tombazis said: “I am excited to welcome Tim to the role of Single-Seater Sporting Director.

“Tim has a wealth of motorsport experience and expertise at the highest level. He will play a major role as we continue to bring rigour to our sporting and regulatory practices and procedures, and he will drive the innovation we have brought to our Race Control operation.

“Tim has been pivotal in creating a strong synergy between Race Control and the ROC with the introduction of new technology including artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art data analysis and processing systems. He will continue to oversee advances in that area as well as taking the lead on the evolution of FIA sporting regulations.”

With Malyon stepping in as the new Sporting Director, the FIA have confirmed that his predecessor Nielsen will be leaving the organisation at the end of January.

“I’d like to thank the FIA for the opportunity to work on the regulatory side of the sport, which has been a fantastic experience for me over the past year,” Nielsen said. “The FIA team working in Formula 1 are a hugely passionate, dedicated group of people who work incredibly hard to achieve the best outcomes for the sport, and I am sure that the positive work that we have done together already will continue into the future.”

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It has also been confirmed that Tim Goss will leave his position as Technical Director at the FIA to take up a position outside of the federation.

“It’s been an honour to work as Technical Director at the FIA and to help shape the future of the sport,” Goss said. “I take immense pride and satisfaction from the numerous achievements of the Technical Department during my stint at the FIA.

“The department boasts a number of highly-talented individuals and I believe the organisation is on a firm footing in terms of technical expertise for the tasks which lie ahead – particularly the introduction of the 2026 regulations. I leave with fond memories of my time with the FIA.”