Robert George Fernley (born 7 January 1953) is a British motorsport manager and entrepreneur who currently serves as chairman of the FIA Single-Seater Commission.

Career

Fernley has a long history of managing racing teams, having owned a lot of equipment in the United States, especially for the IndyCar series. He also has a long association with

Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. T ...

, so when the Indian businessman acquired the

Spyker F1 The Spyker F1 Team, known as the Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship with a Dutch licence. It was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of the ...

team and turned it into

Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...

, it did not take long for Fernley to join the new team's board. He was Force India's deputy team principal, and was in charge of the team's operations on race weekends when Mallya—who had not been able to leave the UK in years—did not show up. He also dealt with matters relating to the FIA and Formula 1 organizers. Fernley left Force India after purchasing his assets by a consortium led by

Lawrence Stroll Lawrence Sheldon Strulović (name later anglicized to Strulovitch) (born 11 July 1959), best known as Lawrence Stroll, is a Canadian billionaire businessman, part-owner and executive chairman of Aston Martin, and the owner of the Aston Martin F1 ...

in August 2018. On November 15, 2018, Fernley was announced as president of

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

project. He assumed the role as a subordinate of

Zak Brown Zakary Challen Brown (born November 7, 1971) is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is chief executive officer of McLaren Racing with overall responsibility for the business, includi ...

, CEO of McLaren. In May 2019, it was announced that McLaren would not renew Fernley's contract after

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

failed to qualify for the

2019 Indianapolis 500 The 2019 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was an IndyCar Series event held on Sunday, May 26, 2019, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Th ...

. On December 17, 2020, it was announced that Fernley would replace

Stefano Domenicali Stefano Domenicali (born 11 May 1965) is an Italian manager and the current CEO of Formula One Group, replacing Chase Carey. He was the CEO of Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini from 2016 to 2020. He was the team principal of the Scu ...

as chairman of the FIA Single-Seater Commission.

References

1953 births Living people Formula One people Force India British motorsport people {{F1-bio-stub