Michael Masi Replaced after FIA review

Article Discussion
michael_masi.jpg

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.
  • Like
Reactions: Foresight, ElRamTV, OZ67 and 2 others
About author
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!

More in F1 & Motorsport

Comments

Damage Inc
LeSunTzu said:
2011 was Hamilton's worst year in every respects. He had a few reckless moves that year for sure. He admitted it and corrected it. Something that someone might eventually do in the future, maybe...
Click to expand...
Max is younger now than the age Lewis was in 2011, he will mature a bit more but I don't think he'll be quite as level headed as Lewis and others. Time will tell.
 
Damage Inc
MoerasGrizzly said:
Over the year we seemed to have been sliding downwards when it comes to racing etiquette. In the late season, Brazil and Jeddah were both some rather awful examples of how the rules were just not enforced at all, and whilst the eyes are all on the end of Abu Dhabi, the start of the finale also had Hamilton cutting corners and getting away with it very lightly.

Part of the problem of discussing this now is that the discussion inevitably devolves in "Who should have won the championship, Max or Lewis?", which isn't really the important question here. Both drivers became notably more aggressive when the season progressed, stretching the rules out to their advantage, and getting more and more leeway each time. In my opinion Max was more pro-active and Lewis more reactive with this regard (the Silverstone crash for me was a good example of what would happen if Lewis raced the same way as Max), but ultimately that doesn't really matter here. What matters here is that the stewards let it happen, especially towards the end of the season.

In the same vein, the end of Abu Dhabi tends to get looked at wrt the fight between Max and Lewis, but this isn't actually all that important. What's important is that Michael Masi looked at it that way, and he shouldn't have. By breaking FIA rules and letting only 5 cars unlap themselves whilst others stayed behind, purely based on where they happened to be in relation to Lewis and Max, gave those 5 cars a massive advantage for their own race results. It saved Vettel from having to defend against Daniel Ricciardo, for instance. There is no excuse for that.
Click to expand...
I have to say that technically no rules were broken. all the section 48 stuff regarding the SC are rules for the Clerk of the Course to follow. Rule 15.3(e) gives Masi the authority to overrule the CotC.

I completely agree that Masi concentrated too much on the title contenders, but seeing as the option some people say "should" have happened (finish behind the SC) would have led to the same result for those other drivers. So they don't really have much grounds to complain do they?
 
Sasha Jednak
LeSunTzu said:
2011 was Hamilton's worst year in every respects. He had a few reckless moves that year for sure. He admitted it and corrected it. Something that someone might eventually do in the future, maybe...
Click to expand...
It is not really that simple:
1) AFTER 2011, he had winning car each season except 2013, which means he had possibility to do "survive and fight another day" approach
2) 2011 happened after he had 2 years of not being able to take the title, which caused him to do EVERYTHING in order to "prove" he still got it

From my view, I don't mind #2, I actually understand it and respect it, especially knowing what those top drivers are made for (all they see is win). Ad to me he didn't have to prove anything at that point, he was one of the fastest and stayed that. Now, I'm guessing this was comparison with Max (I didn't read discussion before). He is very aggressive, but since mid of 2018 he was (one of) the cleanest on the grid, until he got in close fight with mercs, ironic I know. So I guess he also learned from his pre-2018 and corrected?! In the end, if "racing" fans are going to attack each driver that dives on inside of slow corner, then we can simply give points after Q and not race at all.
End of off-topic from my side, bring on that DTM stewarding, we are ready. :roflmao:
 
LeSunTzu
Sasha Jednak said:
It is not really that simple:
1) AFTER 2011, he had winning car each season except 2013, which means he had possibility to do "survive and fight another day" approach
2) 2011 happened after he had 2 years of not being able to take the title, which caused him to do EVERYTHING in order to "prove" he still got it

From my view, I don't mind #2, I actually understand it and respect it, especially knowing what those top drivers are made for (all they see is win). Ad to me he didn't have to prove anything at that point, he was one of the fastest and stayed that. Now, I'm guessing this was comparison with Max (I didn't read discussion before). He is very aggressive, but since mid of 2018 he was (one of) the cleanest on the grid, until he got in close fight with mercs, ironic I know. So I guess he also learned from his pre-2018 and corrected?! In the end, if "racing" fans are going to attack each driver that dives on inside of slow corner, then we can simply give points after Q and not race at all.
End of off-topic from my side, bring on that DTM stewarding, we are ready. :roflmao:
Click to expand...
There is no mystery. Hamilton explained his bad driving in 2011 by the fact he was overpushing a slow car and his personal life did not put him in the best conditions. At least he was able to recognize errors and apologize when he went too far, which paved the way for improvement.
 
Last edited:
MoerasGrizzly
Premium
Damage Inc said:
I completely agree that Masi concentrated too much on the title contenders, but seeing as the option some people say "should" have happened (finish behind the SC) would have led to the same result for those other drivers. So they don't really have much grounds to complain do they?
Click to expand...
They have massive grounds to complain: If all cars had been let through prior to the restart, if no cars had been let through prior to the restart, or if the race had finished under safety car conditions, all cars would've been treated equally. The rules should be the same for everyone, they very visibly weren't.
 
G
protonv5 said:
Figures. He's the fall guy. He received so much pressure from the team bosses, I think he did his best. Why are the teams allowed to talk to him in real time during a race? Who's idea was that?
Anyway, if anyone needs replacing it's Toto Wolff and Christian Horner.
Click to expand...
What?! As a team leader, your job is to win. That's what Toto and Christian did. They did what they could to make sure their team won by using their tools. Why they had access is a different topic, but at the end of the day its FIA's job to make sure the rules were followed no matter who says what. Why don't people get this....
 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Damian Reed
Article read time
1 min read
Views
13,252
Comments
130
Last update
Join the discussion

Share this article

What's needed for simracing in 2024?

  • More games, period

  • Better graphics/visuals

  • Advanced physics and handling

  • More cars and tracks

  • AI improvements

  • AI engineering

  • Cross-platform play

  • New game Modes

  • Other, post your idea

Results are only viewable after voting.
See comments…
Back
Top