Michael Masi, the former Formula 1 race director who oversaw last year’s controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi, has left the FIA and moved to his home country of Australia.
Masi has been removed from his position as F1 racing director ahead of the 2022 season after the FIA found “human error” to be the cause of the misapplication of Safety Car rules during the closing stages. of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021.
In an effort to speed up the restart of the race after a late Safety Car period, Masi flouted parts of the FIA’s sports regulations to set up a final lap battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for the title.
Had he followed the rules correctly, the race would have ended with the Safety Car and Hamilton would have been crowned champion, but by shutting down the restart Masi gave the advantage to Verstappen, who had went on to overtake Hamilton on the final lap and win the championship.
An FIA investigation found Masi acted “in good faith”, but the governing body still felt the need to undertake an overhaul of its race control operations, including appointing two superintendents. new race director to replace Masi.
In a statement on Tuesday, the FIA confirmed Masi was no longer working for the regulator.
“The FIA can confirm that Michael Masi has decided to leave the FIA and move to Australia to be closer to his family and take on new challenges,” a statement said.
“He oversaw a three-year period as the FIA’s Formula One Race Director and Safety Representative following the sudden departure of Charlie Whiting in 2019, performing many of the functions he Delivered professionally and conscientiously.
“The FIA thanks him for his commitment and wishes him the best for the future.”
