The past 24 hours haven’t been the best for the motorsport industry. The racing community lost two figures in the timespan—an 18-year-old Dutch prodigy in Dilano Van ‘t Hoff, who was just beginning his climb to Formula 1, and a 70-year-old former deputy team boss in Robert Fernley, who established himself as a prominent figure in Formula 1. 

Robert “Bob” Fernley made his way into F1 in 2008 after Indian businessman Vijay Mallya took over Spyker F1 and rebranded it to Force India. Mallya made him the team’s deputy team principal, and he quickly became the face of the team. He was in charge of the team’s day-to-day and race operations when Mallya couldn’t make it to races. Even though their partnership in F1 started in 2008, Bob and Vijay go way back.

Fernley started his career in the motorsport industry as a racer himself. But then he moved on to the management aspect of the industry. When he first met Mallya, he ran AMCO. And the meeting with Mallya worked out well for both of them because, at the time, Mallya was looking for a car to race in India, and Fernley gave it to him. The relationship developed over the years, and Bob came to India to run Mallya’s chosen car—the Ensign N177. With that machine under him, Mallya won the 1982 Madras Grand Prix. From then on, their relationship only got stronger, and the two became best buddies.

Considering everything they’ve been through together, Bob’s death shocked Vijay, and he expressed his sadness over the demise of his “best buddy” on Twitter. He said, “Absolutely gutted and totally devastated at the loss of my best buddy of 45 years Robert Fernley, to whom I dedicate my entire career and involvement in Motor Racing from Formula Libre to Formula One.”

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Robert Fernley’s pursuits outside F1

Bob Fernley stayed with Force India from 2008 to 2018 until Lawrence Stroll bought the team and rebranded it to Racing Point. But before making his name in F1, he was already well-established in the motorsport industry.

Apart from helping Mallya win races in his Ensign N177 and the N180B, he led Jim Crawford to the five-race British Formula 1 Championship in 1982 under the Team Ensign banner. Following a successful stint in F1 with Force India, he left to pursue a career in IndyCar with McLaren and worked with the team till the end of 2019. And in 2020, he became the chairman of the FIA Single-Seater Commission.

The motorsport industry will miss the man who made a name for himself in every aspect of the industry he dabbled in. RIP, Robert Fernley.

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