Michael Masi Replaced after FIA review

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Do you agree with the replacement of Michael Masi?

  • Yes

    Votes: 312 61.7%

  • No

    Votes: 194 38.3%
  • Total voters
    506
Michael Masi has been replaced as Formula 1 race director after the Abu Dhabi controversy which saw Lewis Hamilton beaten on the last lap by Max Verstappen..

There’s been huge amounts of scrutiny of Masi's handling of the final laps of the race in Abu Dhabi which saw Max Verstappen claim a maiden world crown.

The race director failed to correctly apply the rules during a safety car period late in the race which influenced the outcome of the Championship.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: "I would like to inform you that a new race management team will be put in place starting in Barcelona for the test session.

"Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas will act alternatively as Race Director, assisted by Herbie Blash as permanent senior advisor.

A Virtual Race Control Room will also be created, while direct radio communications between teams and the race director will be removed.
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Damian Reed
Damian Reed
PC geek, gamer, content creator, and passionate sim racer.
I live life a 1/4 mile at a time, it takes me ages to get anywhere!

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Comments

Sasha Jednak
BeloborodOFF said:
Just imagine: the final race in 2022. For example, Hamilton and Leclerc fight for the title.
What will race directors think? The fact that any decision is not in favor of Lewis = bullying = dismissal.
In my opinion, Michael should have been given a chance.
Otherwise, now we have a situation in which, in fact, the FIA admit their guilt and reduce the value of Max's title.
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I was joking for last 2 months with DTM thing, seams FIA didn't get the joke. So in your case, Leclerc (Ferrari driver) is in points lead, with Hamilton 2nd in championship. Mercedes powered car crashes into Leclerc and Wittich gives "nothing to see here". :roflmao:
 
D
muzikant said:
Ahhh the Mercedes cry baby,s… no no mickey and the britisch merry christmas press. Sad world Max is the deserved champion no doubt :sleep: called karma
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It always this nowadays, "cry babys". I'm no fan of Hamilton, but he was cheated out of his 8th championship. I couldn't care less about Mercedes, Red Bull. Makes no difference to me at all. What does matter is the sport becoming like WWE. I've been watching F1 since 1991.

I blame Trump. When he won it was "cry Libs". When he lost is was "rigged". This is where we are now with any debate. It's pathetic.
 
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BillyBobSenna
Premium
I feel bad for Max now that the FIA officially declares he won the championship by a rogue official inventing rules. Must not be very satisfying.
 
K
I’m not sure what to think of this. On one side, Masi was clearly not fit for the role and someone more competent was needed. But I hope it was the FIA’s decision to fire him and not the result of Mercedes’ lobyying. The teams cannot dictate who is in charge.
 
muzikant
daveclifton said:
It always this nowadays, "cry babys". I'm no fan of Hamilton, but he was cheated out of his 8th championship. I couldn't care less about Mercedes, Red Bull. Makes no difference to me at all. What does matter is the sport becoming like WWE. I've been watching F1 since 1991.

I blame Trump. When he won it was "cry Libs". When he lost is was "rigged". This is where we are now with any debate. It's pathetic.
Click to expand...
thank sky sports who can't stop talking so the pressure for mister Masi didn't go away for the 100 x the championship bite would have been decided a long time ago if Max didn't get those ridiculous motorcycle penalties from the same club.

for the 100 times the championship would have been decided a long time ago if Max didn't get those ridiculous motorcycle penalties from the same club of people. it's pathetic really pathetic bad losers as far as i'm concerned they will never become champions i've never seen such a pathetic team like merc. she wanted competition all they do is cry they should have just made a pit stop now they put the blame on masi :roflmao:
 
muzikant
BillyBobSenna said:
Ik heb medelijden met Max nu de FIA officieel verklaart dat hij het kampioenschap heeft gewonnen door een bedrieglijke officiële uitvinder van regels. Moet niet erg bevredigend zijn.
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I think only for the Merc fans ;) that's what Merc wants them to be robbed :roflmao: politicss!
 
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paracletus
He's just a baby, far too young and inexperienced to fill the shoes of the great CW.

Pandering to team principals' whines over the phone (Red Bull AND Mercedes) was never going to work.
Who now to fill the role? No Idea - but someone who doesn't like phone calls will do.
 
P
daveclifton said:
It always this nowadays, "cry babys". I'm no fan of Hamilton, but he was cheated out of his 8th championship. I couldn't care less about Mercedes, Red Bull. Makes no difference to me at all. What does matter is the sport becoming like WWE. I've been watching F1 since 1991.

I blame Trump. When he won it was "cry Libs". When he lost is was "rigged". This is where we are now with any debate. It's pathetic.
Click to expand...
Figured it was a matter of time before someone blamed Trump for even this. Now that is pathetic.
 
Gevatter
Premium
Patrik Marek said:
it's a show! it's no longer meant to be fair , it's all about making $$$ , times are changing and it's time to move on
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I agree, it's a circus and nothing more. After many years of boring Mercedes dominance we suddenly have a season full of questionable decisions by the stewards that lead to a final race where the two lead rivals are on equal points, which is then decided in the final lap, influenced by a weird decision the FIA made, followed by a lot of passion and engagement from the fans. I'd wager F1 wasn't talked about thi much in the past five years than it was after the end of the 2021 season. The whole season did somewhat feel like the FIA wanted to meddle in it instead of letting the cars race.

For Masi, I voted yes, but not because of the last race, but because the decisions were wonky and somewhat inconsistent for the whole season, and something needed to change. Hopefully F1 can win some credibility back over the coming years.
 
P
daveclifton said:
It always this nowadays, "cry babys". I'm no fan of Hamilton, but he was cheated out of his 8th championship.
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Was the decision made in the last race justified… probably not, but you have to consider the whole season when determining who was the deserved champion. Verstappen should already have been world champion before the last race started. And looking at the statistics over the whole season, Max was the deserved champion if you ask me.

Back on topic… not only the last race was a joke, the race before that was even a bigger mess. Was it only Masi’s fault? I don’t think so. More people from the FIA are to blame here, even team principals like Wolf and Horner with all their political ‘games’, but Masi has been sacrificed now. Let’s see how this season goes. I hope the new rules will shake up the field somewhat… McLaren and Ferrari competing with Mercedes and Red Bull would be nice… and maybe even Alonso in the Alpine.
 
sfairbanks486
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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My thoughts exactly. I don’t think his decision changed the outcome of the race for the reasons you mention, but his selectively applying the rules in a way they had never been made me believe he was willing to affect the outcome. Then again it could have just been a poor decision IMO. Either way I think it called the integrity of race direction into question. If it was the only bad decision of the season I’d be ok giving him another chance, but I think there were others. I’m happy he won’t be the race director, but I’m also happy he still has a chance to work in F1. I’d rather he be moved to a different position than be fired entirely. He was under a ton of pressure from everyone, but this is the pinnacle of Motorsports. If you can’t handle the pressure, give the job to someone who can.
 
D
sfairbanks486 said:
My thoughts exactly. I don’t think his decision changed the outcome of the race for the reasons you mention, but his selectively applying the rules in a way they had never been made me believe he was willing to affect the outcome. Then again it could have just been a poor decision IMO. Either way I think it called the integrity of race direction into question. If it was the only bad decision of the season I’d be ok giving him another chance, but I think there were others. I’m happy he won’t be the race director, but I’m also happy he still has a chance to work in F1. I’d rather he be moved to a different position than be fired entirely. He was under a ton of pressure from everyone, but this is the pinnacle of Motorsports. If you can’t handle the pressure, give the job to someone who canI th
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I think the race finishing under the safety car MAY have changed the outcome but I stand to be corrected:)
 
S
BeloborodOFF said:
And what we have now?
FIA is under one team, that' all. The value of the championship has dropped dramatically. I hope they will publish worthy material on this event with a full justification for their decision.
Just imagine: the final race in 2022. For example, Hamilton and Leclerc fight for the title.
What will race directors think? The fact that any decision is not in favor of Lewis = bullying = dismissal.
In my opinion, Michael should have been given a chance.
Otherwise, now we have a situation in which, in fact, the FIA admit their guilt and reduce the value of Max's title.
Click to expand...
Mercedes and the British media influence and power. All that mattered here. What a joke!
 
D
winston malcolm said:
I think the race finishing under the safety car MAY have changed the outcome but I stand to be corrected:)
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I believe we've read here that both Mercedes and Red Bull and other teams had agreed to finish races under green whenever possible. Masi took that and tried to make it possible. He was not 'making things up' , he was trying to fit the race into an AGREED UPON framework.
 
Dethrone1427
He definitely should have just thrown a red flag, got everyone to have a free change of tyres and then restarted the race with a standing start and had his motor race. He might still be directing races. He'll be fine, the FIA need to be seen to be doing something... He's still got a job, it's just one of those sideways promotions. Wink-wink, nod-nod.
 

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