According to F1, no, but according to the international press, this is exactly what happened, claiming that Niels Wiitich has put too much bad wood on the fire in recent times...
The FIA unexpectedly announced today that the Formula 1 World Championship race director, Niels Wittich, is leaving his position with immediate effect. According to their statement released this afternoon, the German expert was looking for "new opportunities," which is why he is leaving so suddenly, even before the Las Vegas Grand Prix...
"The FIA confirms that Niels Wittich has left the F1 race director position, seeking new opportunities. Niels performed his duties as race director diligently and professionally, for which we thank him, and we wish him much success in the future." - states the announcement.
Meanwhile, the international press is increasingly reporting that there were serious tensions between Wittich and the FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem. And because of this, Wittich was constrained, and he had to leave by the end of the year anyway... Most likely, all this happened because the FIA constantly harassed the drivers with trivial nonsense: swearing, body jewelry, underwear. The open letter from the drivers' organization likely gave the final push for his dismissal.
