In a statement issued by the FIA, F1’s governing body said Wittich had left the role "to pursue new opportunities.”

Niels Wittich, the FIA’s Formula One race director, has allegedly been fired with three ... the managing director of the all-female F1 Academy series, over the FIA’s short-lived conflict-of-interest inquiry into her relationship with her husband.

Formula 1 race director Niels Wittich has stepped down in a surprise move with three races to go and the title yet to be decided.