Formula 1 race director Michael Masi has been offered a new position in the FIA after being stood aside for the 2022 season. 

BRENDAN LINES February 18, 2022

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has delivered on his promise of ‘structural change’ and an ‘action plan,’ ousting race director Michael Masi amid sweeping changes to the sport’s “refereeing and race direction” on Friday.

Masi, was the target of heavy criticism in the wake of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s controversial restart, just three years after he stepped in following the death of Charlie Whiting on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix.

Masi’s application of the safety car rules when restarting the final lap of the title-deciding race prompted Mercedes’ stiff protests, while a subsequent public outcry seemingly tarnished Formula 1’s image. Removing Masi might have been the only medicine the FIA could offer.

Sulayem defended Masi’s tenure saying he had “accomplished a very challenging job,” as race director. However his role will now be shared between Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas will act alternatively as race director, assisted by Herbie Blash as permanent senior advisor — comprising a newly-formed race management team.

Blash, a former sidekick to Whiting, stepped away from Formula 1 to concentrate on his engineering business, but has seemingly been brought out of retirement, adding an experienced head to the new refereeing structure.

Sulayem presented his three-point plan which is headed by the creation of a virtual race control room, which he likened to “the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) in football”. 

He later said the control room would be set up off-site at the FIA offices connected in real-time to the circuit “it will help to apply the sporting regulations using the most modern technological tools”.

The president has muted direct radio communications during the race, which Sulayem said would “protect the race director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully”.

But it will be possible to “questions to the race director, according to a well-defined and non-intrusive process,” Sulayem said.

He later concluded the changes announcing “unlapping procedures behind safety car will be reassessed by the F1 Sporting Advisory Committee and presented to the next F1 Commission prior to the start of the season”.

The FIA stopped short of issuing a public apology towards of the Abu Dhabi furore that instigated the review. But Sulayem acknowledged the changes were “crucial” in enabling Formula 1 to be “ even more loved and respected”.

The new race management team will be in place when preseason testing commences in Barcelona next week.