May 16 - Axed and disgraced former F1 race director Michael Masi could make a comeback.

While many applauded the Australian's forced departure after the controversy of the 2021 championship showdown in Abu Dhabi, new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem insists he hasn't sacked Masi.

"He had a personal overload - safety delegate as well as race director," he told the Daily Mail. "He made a mistake. It is not as if we said it is the end of Masi with the FIA."

Ben Sulayem said Masi's handling of the safety car period and final laps in Abu Dhabi at the end of the ultra-intense 2021 battle amounted to "human error".

"I spoke to him two days ago," said the FIA president. "I have no personal issue. I don't hate anyone.

"Michael is there and we might use him. I didn't say we were getting rid of him. I said we might use him. He may be in a good place to use. We are open to everything."

Indeed, Ben Sulayem says the FIA deserves the bulk of the blame for the 2021 controversy, insisting the former "race structure" needed to be fixed.

"And though we have brought in two new race directors, I wouldn't say we have got it all right yet," he insisted. "This lack of people in the FIA needs to be addressed.

"I would like to see a minimum of three race directors, ideally by the beginning of next year."


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13 F1 Fan comments on “Masi could make F1 return as race director?

  1. shroppyfly

    And I thought a poster ws joking about Masi, oh please, please bring him back, come on Toto, we went motor racing... No Michael Noooo, its not right

    I want Torgers head to explode

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  2. f1award

    He officially made a "Human error" as well as a "Mistake" it seems, doesn't deserve anything more than FIA official on the dodgems at the fair.

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  3. PlayItFair

    I personally think, this guy deserves a second chance. He was under a lot of pressure in 2021 season as battle between VER and HAM got heated race by race. I don't remember if there were any other controversies with Masi in previous years. He got too much hate for a human error, which to me looked like a forced decision from someone at the top to put VER and HAM next to each other at the last lap of Abu Dhabi race, to avoid ending epic season with anti-climax HAM win. At the end of the day bad press is still press and F1 as well as FIA won big there using Masi and accidentally Latifi.

    Let's be good sports fans and give people who deal with enormous pressure, drivers, team principals, race directors, a bit more compassion.

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    • shroppyfly

      you had me untill the last bit

      Let's be good sports fans and give people who deal with enormous pressure, drivers, team principals, race directors, a bit more compassion.

      They are in those positions BECAUSE (usally) they can handle the pressure, but yes if Masi has done his homework about f1 rules , bring him back , otherwise all his exp is wasted, as for Toto and Lou, theyve got bigger problems to worry about Masi,
      Wait till Grojean does his promised test and drives faster than Lewis did in it,and Toto offers him a contract on the spot should his No 1 girl have another hissy fit this year .

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  4. Susan

    Masi may have made a mistake but so did RB MB team principles for talking to him every 1 min. trying to coerce him.
    They should never have been allowed access to the RD in the first place. Enough finger-pointing to go around for one race.

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  5. Susan

    I feel sorry for you, Blo. Your anger is misdirected. Masi has made some mistakes, Charlie Whiting made some mistakes, drivers including your heto makes mistakes.People, maybe even you, Blo, have made mistakes. Your outrage is a little over t he top. This is only a sport, fun and exciting, have been to a few myself. But yourreaction to a guy you don’t agree with is overstated.
    Let’s put all this in perspective, it is a sport, it is entertaining but on a scale of real importance, not so much.

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  6. Criti

    I'm surprised at the comments that Masi made a "mistake". In fact he did more than that. He had 3 hours after the race to calming reflect on the circumstances of his mistake but instead of doing the right thing, which would have been correct his mistake, he searched for a way to justify it and cover it up by denying Mercedes' appeal on ridiculous grounds.

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    • shroppyfly

      And theres me thinking it was the race stewards that hear and decide an appeal after a race, when all along its the race director

      I am glad there are well informed people who make comments like this on this forum. I would feel so stupid if id made a comment was so factually incorrect it made me look like an idiot to others.

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  7. Swede

    I disagree that he made a mistake. As RD, he had the right to make the call as he saw it under the circumstances

    His goal was to end the race under a green flag, and it did.

    RB & MB should not have been making verbal appeals directly to him, or Toto emailing him stuff while he worked through the situation.

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