FIA confirm departure of ex-F1 race director Michael Masi

Former F1 Race Director Michael Masi has left the FIA, the governing body confirmed on Tuesday.

Masi, who was replaced as Race Director for the 2022 Formula 1 season following the controversial end to the 2021 season, has been confirmed as having departed the FIA.

According to a short statement from the FIA, Masi has made the decision to leave his role and relocate to Australia to be closer to his family and “take on new challenges”.

Masi was F1 Race Director and Safety Delegate for three seasons, stepping up to the role following the sudden death of stalwart Charlie Whiting at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.

However, Masi’s position came under threat after his handling of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale, which was a title showdown between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

A late Safety Car allowed Verstappen the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres and close up behind Hamilton for a potential restart – a restart that Mercedes believed wouldn’t come, according to the letter of the regulations.

However, Masi made a call for the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves, clearing the way for Verstappen to attack Hamilton when the Safety Car was withdrawn with a single lap to go – the Dutch driver successfully getting past to clinch the title.

Given that the rulebook indicated the race shouldn’t have resumed until the end of the following lap, which would have resulted in a Hamilton title victory, Masi’s actions met with furious public backlash – the Australian has yet to surface publicly since the events of that race.

The huge public outcry was also fuelled by the response of Mercedes to the handling of the race, with team boss Toto Wolff and Hamilton both making it clear that they felt Masi’s actions had resulted in the title swinging away from them and towards Red Bull.

Hamilton’s participation in the 2022 season even appeared in doubt for several weeks after the race, with his confirmation as continuing only coming after Masi was removed from the role.  Hamilton later said that he never hinted he would stop racing.

Unsurprisingly, Red Bull backed Masi’s decision-making, with reigning World Champion Verstappen later saying that Masi had been “thrown under a bus” by the governing body, while Christian Horner said the FIA had given into “bullying” from Mercedes.

Masi was replaced as Race Director for 2022 as newly-elected Mohammed Ben Sulayem, together with former…