Inside F1’s Michael Masi saga one year on from Hamilton ‘mistake’

Max Verstappen’s dramatic F1 title win was all fans were talking about 12 months ago as Lewis Hamilton’s F1 future remained unknown. Express Sport takes a look back at the events which led to Masi’s downfall.

The background

Sunday, December 12, 2021. Lewis Hamilton is leading the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a handful of laps remaining en route to his eighth world championship. Seconds later, Nicholas Latifi crashes on the exit of turn 14, prompting race director Masi to call for a safety car.

Hamilton stays out as Verstappen pits for fresh soft tyres, handing the Dutchman a lifeline to his fading championship hopes. Masi makes the crucial error as he allows only lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to un-lap themselves moments before restarting the race.

Masi’s decision breaks F1 regulations which state races must be restarted “at the end of the following lap”. The rules would have meant the finale finished behind the safety car with Hamilton as the victor instead of the Hollywood finish which followed.

Verstappen passed Hamilton on fresher tyres within five corners of the restart to clinch his first title, sending shockwaves through the sport.

READ MORE: Michael Schumacher’s brother discusses Hamilton and Verstappen battle

Outcomes

Masi lost his job as race director but retained a role within the FIA. The Australian’s job was also split in two with Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas in charge for 2022.

The FIA also rewrote the rule book to clearly state that “all” cars must be unlapped before the end of the safety car. Bosses then revealed they had developed new technology to better help race directors make decisions.

The report read: “The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one and human error lead to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. Due to the fact that manual interventions generally carry a higher risk of human error, software has been developed that will, from now on, automate the communication of the list of cars that must un-lap themselves.”

Where is Michael Masi now?

Masi left the FIA in July 2022, seven months on from the fiasco in Abu Dhabi. Ahead of Masi’s departure, many drivers had defended him with Verstappen even suggesting the FIA had thrown him “under the bus”.

The FIA explained Masi left the organisation of his own accord despite being offered another role. A statement read: “The FIA confirms that Michael Masi has decided to leave the FIA and relocate to Australia to be closer to his family and take on new challenges.”