Steiner: Teams to 'support' FIA after Whiting death
It will be almost "impossible" for F1 to replace Charlie Whiting.
Whiting, the sport's long-serving FIA race director and starter, died suddenly in his Melbourne hotel room on Wednesday night.
His deputy, Michael Masi, has been named as his replacement for now.
But 1996 world champion Damon Hill said Whiting, who was 66, will be "extremely difficult if not impossible to replace".
Valtteri Bottas confirmed that Whiting was "very important" for the sport and the drivers.
"If we had concerns about anything, like the curbs or the marshals or anything, he always reacted. He had a huge impact on formula one," said the Mercedes driver.
"At the moment it's hard to imagine who can do all of this instead of Charlie, but I am sure there will soon be a plan."
Gunther Steiner, the Haas team boss, confirmed that F1 has a "structure" in place that will take over Whiting's duties.
"Whatever the FIA decides this weekend, the teams will support it," he said. "We can do little to help, but we can do that.
"It will take some time for the Federation to restructure everything, but this weekend, if we can help with something, we definitely will."
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He will be sadly missed as always we waited for his decision in the most extreme circumstances to go or not to go ..then to read he was the conduit of the drivers around all issues that made the racing day adds to my opening ... he will be missed ..cheers and let F1 rock on
I am shocked and saddened. IMO, Charlie Whiting was the embodiment of F1, more so than Bernie ever was. RIP, sir. We will all miss you.
Rest in peace Charlie- your patience and emotional intelligence when dealing with all F1 stakeholders will be very hard to match I am sure the long haul-flight to Aussie caused the embolism. Absolutely tragic that you passed away alone without your family. Rest in peace- F1 will never forget your life long contribution to the sport !