Michael Masi Replaced after FIA review

Does he get a severance package ? I see job possibilities for him at NASCAR.

People are still confusing Masi with the stewards. Much of the Incosistency all year came from the stewards, not from Masi himself.

So with that said, Masi is being used as a scapegoat to finally silence the british press who has been requesting his head all through the winter, something that must delight Wolff, who must be already laughing and preparing more stupid Bond Villain style statements.

I dont think this will solve anything. Eduardo Freitas loves his safety car, so we will get to see more of those, and the stewards will remain in this rotation model, being as inconsistent as before.

I guess the teams not having access to the race director is a good thing, and should have been done ages ago, so at least that.

In the same week, Prince Andrew and the FIA both admit guilt, but neither of their victims get justice.

daveclifton said:

In the same week, Prince Andrew and the FIA both admit guilt, but neither of their victims get justice.

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Victim of FIA?

The loss of the championship still falls on the Mercedes team. The pitstops where Perez defended Lewis clearly showed how much faster the Merc was. Once clear of Perez, with slightly older tires Hamilton drove away from Max. Then the team kept him out again prior to the yellow flag despite Lewis questioning the decision. Once the accident happened, Lewis was left in the undefendable position. Max barely made the pass, with fresher tires, Lewis 'may' have held him off or even repassed on the last straight.
You can blame Masi for the confusion at the end of the race, but all that did was expose Mercedes poor tactics.

Ryan Soucy said:

Mercedes screwed up by not pitting Hamilton at the beginning of the last safety car. But changing the application of the rules after everyone made their strategic calls threw the race knowingly in one direction. If it was Masi's call, he's no sacrificial lamb. He took a gamble to create a motor race and failed. (Because pitting one car in second on new tyres against one with 35 lap old tyres is NO motor race. So dumb.)

If he'd left lapped cars between the two he could have gotten the spectacle and drama without throwing the title at one driver.

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I don't believe for one second that Masi arbitrarily decided anything, I'd wager money that "higher ups" did NOT want the race to finish behind the SC regardless of who benefitted or not.

He did create a motor race, unless you think any race won on a tyre advantage is dumb as well? The only way he could have thrown the title at one driver was to finish behind the SC. That would have effectively denied Max any chance to capitalise on his teams gamble. I just don't understand people who think that would be "fairer". The previous laps Lewis led were rendered irrelevant by Latifi's crash, similar things have happened in countless races over the yers to change the outlook of a race. What really effed everything up was the brakes of Latifi's car catching fire, delaying the track clear up. If the FIA don't clear up the rules and reg regarding last laps they are dumb as ****. Sacking Masi will do nothing.

David Jessat said:

Victim of FIA?

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Masi's been fired for his misconduct, yet the victim of his misconduct has got no justice.

It had to happen regardless of whether or not it was the correct decision. Some will never be able to see him as a fair administrator of the rules, so he had to go.

davehenrie said:

The loss of the championship still falls on the Mercedes team. The pitstops where Perez defended Lewis clearly showed how much faster the Merc was. Once clear of Perez, with slightly older tires Hamilton drove away from Max. Then the team kept him out again prior to the yellow flag despite Lewis questioning the decision. Once the accident happened, Lewis was left in the undefendable position. Max barely made the pass, with fresher tires, Lewis 'may' have held him off or even repassed on the last straight.
You can blame Masi for the confusion at the end of the race, but all that did was expose Mercedes poor tactics.

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Exactly - how the opportunity got created is questionable, but that is all it was, an opportunity. Lewis made a rare mistake by not defending into the hairpin, describing him or his team as a victim misses the point.

I do not think Masi had any chance of keeping his job though, it's how these controversies usually end, with a scapegoat rather than real change - if there is anyone who would not make that mistake again, it is Masi.

daveclifton said:

Masi's been fired for his misconduct, yet the victim of his misconduct has got no justice.

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And the victim is? See my post above, I do not think there is one.

On the one hand, he was just trying to make it an entertaining finale for the masses, under intense pressure from Mercedes and Red Bull, not to mention the partisan fans of Verstappen and Hamilton who were always the victim from any decision he made, and to a much wider audience tuning in for this finish.

On the other hand, faking a Spa race to avoid refunding, not coming down harder on Verstappen at Brazil and then watching the farcical Jeddah race as a result, saying Hamilton "gave up the advantage" when he didn't in Abu Dhabi, using some loophole to manufacture a shoot-out with 1 lap to go, etc. etc were poor decision making. His desire to remain neutral ultimately showed a lack of conviction to clamp down.

The job has become too big for one man when you let teams constantly pester you. But Masi buckled at crucial moments, and more than the Abu Dhabi race was his Spa radio call that "we're going to have a race" really pissed me off.

Ironically, I think if the rules had been followed and Verstappen started in 5th, I think he would have got past the backmarkers very quickly and caught Hamilton. It would have been much closer than it actually was and it would have been fair.

Wilson Oliveira said:

I don't know Niels Wittich but regarding Eduardo Freitas, I don't think you could ask for someone better at that role.

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This seems good for F1, but I will miss hearing him on the Michael Fassbender videos.

navb said:

But Masi buckled at crucial moments, and more than the Abu Dhabi race was his Spa radio call that "we're going to have a race" really pissed me off.

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He was haggling with the team bosses in the previous race. I'd never heard that before. He wasn't up to the job, he proved that in Abu Dhabi crumbling to Horner and handing the title to Verstappen.

I sure hope the FIA has further adjustments to ensure that F1 cleans up its act for the next season, just getting rid of Masi will not solve all the issues that were exposed in 2021.

daveclifton said:

Ironically, I think if the rules had been followed and Verstappen started in 5th, I think he would have got past the backmarkers very quickly and caught Hamilton. It would have been much closer than it actually was and it would have been fair.

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And while I would not call Lewis a victim, I agree that this would have been the correct call. Fair is a tricky word though, highly subjective what is and what is not.

daveclifton said:

He was haggling with the team bosses in the previous race. I'd never heard that before. He wasn't up to the job, he proved that in Abu Dhabi crumbling to Horner and handing the title to Verstappen.

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Jeddah was a monumental f*ck up.

We'll move driver x back 2, if driver y moves back 3.

There was no other reasonable option.

Ahhh the Mercedes cry baby,s… no no mickey and the britisch merry christmas press. Sad world Max is the deserved champion no doubt called karma

He should had been replaced after changing the rules mid race at Bahrain, that was unacceptable I almost stopped watching the sport on the spot. Either those 29 track limits should have awarded a black flag, or it should had to be OK to go off track all race long, the only thing he did right was asking Verstappen to give the position back. People only remember the last lap of Abu Dhabi, but what Massi did on Bahrain was no less infuriating.


I think that the guy can't be taken seriously as a proffesional, he also was very confrontational and rude when a driver or team was not OK with his or the FIA decisions. No matter the outcome or what team you support, you are going to be happy to see him parting ways with F1.


But my personal theory is that this "incompetence" from him, and the FIA stewards "inconsistency" wasn't really incompetence. I have the personal belief that FOM pressured the FIA into meddling with the championship all year long helping Hamilton when mercedes felt inferior to keep him in the fight and later with Verstappen when the RB seemed sitting ducks in order to keep both drivers artificially close on points for all the championship leading to a grand finale to increase the uncertainty of the championship outcome and raise the sport audiences and fan engagement.


The aftermath of the championship is a dumpster fire for us, and gold rain for FOM interests: a massive amount of incredibly passionate engagement on social media and press, Hamilton fans are riled up and want to see him destroy everybody to win the 8th and stick it to the FIA, Verstappen fans want to win the second title to piss off the manipulative British media, and others want to see Russel try to do to Hamilton what Hamilton did to Alonso just to see an internal meltdown in the high and mighty Mercedes, because some people just want to see the world in flames. The sport visibility is out of the charts, and it means a massive amount of money for them and their shareholders.

With every year that it pass the sport is becoming more and more a caricature of itself.