Formulation 1’s long-serving chief authorized officer Sacha Woodward Hill is leaving the organisation.
Nonetheless a practising solicitor, she was initially recruited to hitch F1 again in 1996 by former supremo Bernie Ecclestone, having beforehand labored for a number of well-known authorized companies in London.
Reflecting a number of years in the past on how she made the step into grand prix racing, she informed F1: “As with most issues in F1, all of it occurred very quick and he provided me a job the following day.
“He by no means confirmed the supply in writing – issues had been slightly casual in these days – and once I arrived on my first day, he pretended to not bear in mind hiring me, as a joke.
“I shortly found his dry sense of humour, one of many many qualities that made him an amazing particular person to work for.”
Woodward Hill was formally appointed to the chief authorized officer position in 2000, and has remained in that publish till now. In 2006 she joined the board of administrators as a member of F1’s government administration.
She may be very well-known in F1 circles and helped play an essential position through the international transformation of F1 beneath Ecclestone within the late Nineties and early 2000s.
Beneath her, F1’s authorized crew expanded to cowl the various calls for of a contemporary sporting organisation, and this group of highly-skilled legal professionals helped assist grand prix racing’s chiefs in coping with authorized recommendation, the negotiations of offers and different dangers administration workout routines.
Bernie Ecclestone with Sacha Woodward-Hill Monaco, Saturday 28 Could 2011.
She grew to become a detailed confidante of Ecclestone, holding directorships in a number of F1 associated companies, and was even at one time advised by him to be a possible successor.
Talking again in 2014 in regards to the prospect of somebody like Woodward Hill taking on the operating of F1, Ecclestone stated: “The individuals right here (at FOM) would have the ability to simply observe by what we’ve put in place.
“Maybe if I managed the board, I might in all probability say it would not be a foul thought to have a lady being the chief government.
“If I died there are sufficient individuals within the firm who may proceed operating it the way in which we’ve set issues up.”
Whereas a few of Ecclestone’s closest allies departed when F1 was bought to Liberty Media in 2016, Woodward Hill stayed on and labored alongside present F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali throughout what has been a vastly profitable interval.
Her tasks together with overseeing F1’s authorized compliance, model safety, human sources and administrative capabilities.
It’s understood nevertheless, that after almost 30 years with F1, she has determined that now could be the best time to step away from day-to-day tasks and might be departing.
