Speakers

The 9th edition of the Forum combined insightful sessions and masterclasses from our industry-leading experts, discussing topics that included Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion, Sponsorship and Future Technologies. 

speakers
James Bradshaw

Head of Digital Technology

James Bradshaw is Head of Digital Technology at Formula 1, responsible for Platform & Technology Strategy and Technical Delivery of all Consumer Facing Digital Products. James draws on a wealth of experience, spanning many industries in Agencies, Consultancies, Tech Companies and directly for leading consumer brands.

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Julia Pallé

Director of Sustainability

Julia Pallé is a leading expert on sustainability in motorsport and the international elite sport industry. In her role at the world’s first all-electric motor racing series, Julia certified the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship net zero carbon since inception – the first sport in the world to achieve the standard.

While developing and implementing the sustainability strategy at Formula E, Julia has overseen a range of significant achievements that establishes Formula E’s credentials as a leader of sustainability in tier-one sport.

Before joining Formula E, Julia was the Sustainability Executive at Michelin Motorsport.

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Zoe Chilton

Head of Strategic Partnerships

Zoe heads up Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Partnerships team, delivering marketing activations and technical integrations for everything from premium lifestyle brands to strategic technical partners. The Partnerships team works to blend the strategic aims of its Partners, inspiring brand and product stories, with the unique identity and global reach of the Formula One team.

Joining the Team in 2015, after 10 years in the motorsport and HPE sector, Zoe was initially responsible for managing the team’s key technical partners and engineering stakeholders within the business, to ensure the perfect fit in both product and culture – and bring this to life with innovative activations. Since then, working with a wider remit across the Partnerships team, Zoe has helped to bring this synergistic approach to the expanding portfolio, including title partner Oracle and key strategic partners such as Honda and Exxon Mobil.

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Martin Whitaker

CEO

Martin Whitaker has enjoyed an extensive career in motorsport spanning some thirty years and has included roles throughout the sport working for the governing body the FIA and for Formula One Management: as the communications manager for Formula 1 team McLaren and Director of Motorsport for the Ford Motor Company and its Formula 1 and World Rally Championship programme. In addition, Martin has held the role of Chief Executive Officer for the Bahrain International Circuit and for the international racing series Australian V8 Supercars. Martin is now the CEO of the Saudi Motorsport Company, leading development of the sport in Saudi Arabia and the hosting of international events such as the FIA Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the Dakar Rally.

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Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa

CEO

Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa has held the position of CEO at the BIC since 2010 and has been a fundamental part of the success of the circuit since its inception. A keen racer himself, he has been involved in sports management and motorsport throughout his career and takes an active role in supporting the growth of motorsport in the region. Prior to his role at BIC, he worked for Bahrain’s General Organisation for Youth and Sport and was also Vice President of The Bahrain Motor Federation. He sits on several sporting advisory boards and was previously a member of the FIA Single Seater Commission and the F1 Commission.

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Amr Elrawi

Director, Sports Marketing and Business Development

Amr Elrawi is an award-winning commercially focused and data-driven business leader and advisor, with over 22 years of experience in marketing, sales & service within four different industries: telecom, technology, financial services, and sports.

As the Director, Sports Marketing and Business Development at Oracle and part of the East London University Advisory Board, Amr helps sports organisations and partners including Oracle Red Bull Racing, the Premier League and Sail GP to use data, AI & Machine Learning models and technology to win and drive performance.

Before joining Oracle, he was the Head of Acquisition for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, focusing on growing and engaging fans using Data and Marketing Solutions to drive commercial value & improve Fan Experience. Amr also holds an Executive MBA degree from Warwick Business School.

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Ellen Jones

Head of Sustainability

As a sustainability leader, Ellen works across the Environment, Social, and Governance agenda to develop strategies and collaboratively deliver change programmes. At Formula 1, Ellen’s is responsible for the delivering F1’s Sustainability Strategy which has 3 key pillars:

1. To achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030
2. To leave a legacy of positive change wherever we race
3. To take steps to build a more diverse and inclusive sport by removing barriers, nurturing talent, and inspiring change.

As a wider Sustainability team, our role in F1 is to empower the business to deliver on our sustainability objectives & manage our governance & reporting requirements.

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Philipp Männer

Senior Director Media Rights and OTT

Philipp Männer is Senior Director Media Rights & OTT at WRC Promoter GmbH, the rights holder of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX), and the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX). In his role he is responsible for the distribution and commercialization of the media rights portfolio globally and WRC Promoter‘s own OTT platforms. Philipp Männer has 15 years of experience in the sports and media industry where he has worked for companies such as Sportfive, Paramount, and the PGA Tour.

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Richard Saxby

Motorsports Director

Richard Saxby is a motorsport veteran with over 20 years’ experience in Formula 1. He started his career as a Graduate Research and Development Engineer at Stewart Grand Prix and has gone on to work with some of the sport’s most illustrious names, including Renault F1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, and Mercedes AMG. Employed across electronics, systems and testing and development applications, his efforts have spanned both trackside and factory-based positions and contributed to a remarkable ten constructors’ world championships.

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Neil Ralph

Principal Sports Partnership Manager

Neil is Principal Sports Partnership Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS), leading technical collaborations with motorsports organisations including Formula 1, Scuderia Ferrari and NASCAR. After 20 years working across industries, Neil joined AWS in early 2017 and has been focused on motorsport since the inception of the partnership with F1 in mid-2018.

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Ali Russell

Chief Marketing Officer

Ali Russell has been working in the sports industry for over 25 years, with a career spanning multiple disciplines, including senior roles in rugby, football, and motorsport. With a grounding in marketing via Coca Cola, he has garnered a breadth of experience having worked in several high-profile positions including Chief Marketing Officer at FIA Formula E, Chief Operating Officer at Rangers and Managing Director at Queens Park Rangers.

Ali is now the Chief Marketing Officer for the pioneering new motor racing series, Extreme E. The championship’s mission is to showcase electric vehicle performance in extreme conditions, whilst encouraging global action to combat the devastating environmental issues threatening our planet’s future.

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Mark Sibla

Chief of Staff

Mark Sibla is the chief of staff of INDYCAR, where he is tasked with operational efficiency, external relationships, financial initiatives and the overall business affairs of INDYCAR.

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Rodi Basso

Co-Founder & CEO

Rodi Basso is a Naples-born engineer with a passion for technology and innovation.

Having written his thesis with NASA, Basso’s background as an aerospace engineer led him to work with some of the biggest names in motorsport.

Basso worked with the famous Ferrari outfit in Formula 1 during their most dominant era in the sport, working alongside the likes of Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher.

He then made the switch to Red Bull Racing, working under the watchful eye of technical guru Adrian Newey, where he helped build the foundations for future success. The Red Bull team later went on to win four world titles in a row with Sebastian Vettel and have returned to winning ways more recently in the hands of Max Verstappen.

After more than a decade working at the pinnacle of motorsport, Basso moved on to other
projects, focusing on business performance and development for major organisations at Magneti Marelli and McLaren Applied Technologies.

During his tenure at McLaren, he met with Spanish businessman and entrepreneur Alejandro Agag while working to develop the new battery for the Gen2 Formula E car.

In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, he was walking along the Thames River in London with Agag, who together came up with the idea of an electric racing championship on the water, akin to Formula E and Extreme E.

This ultimately led Basso to work alongside Norwegian designer Sophi Horne to create what would eventually become known as the ‘RaceBird’, which is the electric foiling raceboat that the pilots will compete with in the UIM E1 World Championship.

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David Dempsey

Senior Vice President

Dr. David Dempsey is an original co-founder of Salesforce EMEA, bringing Salesforce into Europe in 2000. Under his leadership he has overseen the growth of the European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division of Salesforce from a three person Irish start up to a pan-European business with offices across Europe including regional hubs in Dublin, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich.

A previous Country Leader at Salesforce Ireland, and based at the company’s Irish headquarters in Dublin, David currently serves as an Executive Board Member for SFDC Ireland Ltd and its subsidiaries. David is also Salesforce’s Senior Vice President for EMEA Corporate Relations and sits on the Salesforce UK/I Leadership Team. In addition to his Irish executive role, David is also a pivotal voice for the Salesforce ESG focus in EMEA, including our Sustainability, Inclusion and Impact Investing focus and initiatives.

Prior to establishing Salesforce EMEA, David held executive positions at Oracle, in both the UK and at home, including nine years spent as Head of Ireland Consulting Services. David is a certified Member of the Institute of Directors and has both an MBA (2005) and DBA (2015) from Waterford Institute of Technology. His recent book ‘Industry Trends in Cloud Computing’ was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018.

Event Host

speakers
Harry Benjamin

Presenter, Voiceover & Commentator - BBC 5Live, F1 TV & MotoGP

Harry has been working as a broadcaster since he was 18 years old, starting out with his own motorsport blog. Since, he has gone on to present and produce a wide variety of TV and Radio coverage. Harry has hosted shows for the Hits Radio Network, with his weekend show reaching 6 million listeners. He has also worked for BBC Radio 5 Live, been Magic Radio’s Olivier Awards Red Carpet reporter, and has produced one of the biggest Breakfast Shows on UK radio with Dave Berry across the Absolute Radio Network. Harry was recognised by BBC Radio 1 and Global as one of the Best New Presenters coming up through the ranks whilst at University. Harry has worked for broadcasters including BBC Bitesize, CNN, BBC Sport, Motorsport.com, London Live and more. He reported on the Formula E championship for CNN’s Supercharged, hosted live sport coverage on the BBC and is part of the presenting team for the London New Years Day Parade.

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