FIA fires Michael Masi as Formula 1 race director

The departure of race director Michael Masi follows the events of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when the safety car became active in the closing stages of the race after a crash involving Nicolas Latifi. It looked for a moment that the race would end under the safety car, but on the penultimate lap Masi called the safety car in so that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton could race for one more lap for the win and the championship. There was also a lot of fuss about the selection of stragglers who were allowed to overtake the safety car before this happened. The rest is history.

There was controversy surrounding Masi’s decision, prompting the FIA ​​to investigate the incident. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the current president of the FIA, presents some structural changes in and around the race management as a result of that investigation. Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas alternately take on the role of Masi, assisted by a Virtual Race Control Room. This can be compared to the VAR in football, where a team of people is in constant contact with the match director to provide him with extra information that can support him in making important decisions.

No radio contact

Furthermore, direct radio contact between the race director and the teams, which is now increasingly broadcast on TV, is now prohibited. The teams can still ask questions to the race management, but from now on this will be done via a ‘well-defined and non-intrusive process’, according to the FIA. It is not clear what that process will look like. In addition, the FIA ​​will review overtaking by stragglers under a safety car. Now it is still the case that, if they are placed on a lap, they can overtake the rest of the field under the safety car to wipe out their deficit. Before the start of the season, a new plan must be on the table. Finally, a new race management team will be installed from the testing sessions in Barcelona.