Losing three senior figures in such a short space of time is not a good look for the FIA, and it has prompted one senior figure within the sport to tell BBC Sport the organisation is in “a total mess”.
The FIA is yet to comment on Mayer’s departure, but it is said she decided not to reapply for her position after her term came to an end.
Nielsen – a highly respected figure within F1, with three decades of experience in sporting management – left because he believed the FIA was not willing to make the changes he felt were required to make its race-control operations fit for purpose.
Sources close to the FIA told BBC Sport Goss had similar frustrations with the internal operations of the FIA as Nielsen, as well as unhappiness over the process of creating the new technical rules that will be introduced in F1 in 2026.
These will introduce new hybrid engines, with a greater proportion of power created by the electric motor than now, and new aerodynamic rules.
Although the three departures differ in nature, the turmoil within the FIA will raise further questions about the leadership of president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has been embroiled in a series of controversies since being elected in December 2021.
Last month, the FIA was undermined by both commercial rights holders F1 and all the F1 teams after it launched a compliance investigation into Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie, the director of the F1 Academy for aspiring female racing drivers.
The move caused widespread dismay within F1, where many senior figures are uncomfortable about Ben Sulayem but prefer to keep their counsel in public.
The FIA announced the compliance inquiry in the wake of a magazine report that said a rival team had raised the issue of a potential conflict of interest involving the couple.
Mercedes and F1 immediately put out strongly worded statements rejecting the accusation.
This was followed by all Mercedes’ rival teams releasing co-ordinated and identically worded statements saying they had made no such complaint.
The ethics investigation was then closed two days after it had been announced.
The dispute comes against a backdrop of worsening relations between F1 and the FIA on a number of fronts.
Ben Sulayem said in February last year that he was stepping back from direct involvement in F1.
This came after a series of controversies since he was elected president, including the unearthing of sexist remarks he made in the past.
But he has remained active behind the scenes and teams have viewed a series of incidents in recent months as being directly linked to him, including the decision to call Wolff and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur to the stewards at the final race of the season for swearing in a news conference.
