Blash pays tribute to former companion Whiting

Ex-F1 deputy race director Herbie Blash had paid tribute to his former friend and companion Charlie Whiting, who suddenly passed away in Melbourne last Thursday morning.

Herbie described his late friend as "irreplaceable" when describing the loss of Charlie to Autosport.

Blash hired Whiting into the Brabham team as a mechanic in the late 70's, and became Whiting's deputy and worked with him for over twenty years.

Blash left F1 at the end of the 2017 season and currently works as sporting director for the World Superbikes Championship.

"Most importantly two young children have lost the most loving and adorable father," Blash told Autosport. "And he was, he just devoted everything to the kids. He spent the last week with them. As for the loss to F1, Charlie really is irreplaceable by one person. He's going to be greatly, greatly missed for a long time to come."

Blash and Whiting were close personally also, as it's understood that Blash is godfather to Whiting's son, Justin. Blash also mentioned about how Charlie's legacy will live on through his hard work and dedication to F1.

"As for the loss to F1, Charlie really is irreplaceable by one person. He's going to be greatly, greatly missed for a long time to come," Blash added. 

"He did so many things, the circuit inspections, the technical rules - Charlie was the one guy all the teams could go to to talk about the regulations.

"The nice thing is that his legacy will continue when you look at things like the halo and all the other work that Charlie did in the way of safety."