Masi's future as a race director is far from guaranteed, and Brundle is concerned that the Australian may be the one to lose his job.
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Martin Brundle, an ex-F1 driver, believes race director Michael Masi may be held responsible for the events in Abu Dhabi. The teams’ attention is almost entirely focused on the next 2022 season, which will be the first to be run under the new regulations, but before everyone can completely move on, the FIA must explain the 2021 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Max Verstappen of Red Bull headed into the race weekend tied on points, setting the scenario for an exciting title finale to cap off a memorable Formula 1 season.
The race was thrilling, but Mercedes was enraged by the way the championship was decided. Masi only cleared the lapped runners between Verstappen in P2 and the leader Hamilton before rejoining the race on the last lap after a Safety Car interlude. Verstappen then took off Hamilton on the final lap with fresher tyres, taking the win and the championship from Hamilton at the end of a race he had largely controlled. The FIA is looking into the Abu Dhabi events, and a report is expected on March 18, the first day of practise at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will kick off the 2022 season.
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Since the sports regulations dictate that all lapped cars must pass the Safety Car when the message is sent, this report is of significant significance to Mercedes, which felt robbed in Abu Dhabi. Since the race’s end, Hamilton has been silent. Of course, Masi’s future as a race director is far from guaranteed, and Brundle is concerned that the Australian may be the one to lose his job.
“He might be the sacrificial lamb,” Brundle said on Sky’s The F1 Show. “What’s really important here for the FIA and for Formula 1 is that this is not swept under the carpet and just left for a few weeks and then overtaken by the new 2022 cars, and the tests, and what have you. We need to understand what happened and why it won’t happen again. We need to reassure the fans that what they are seeing is for real, genuine, and that they are giving up their free time to watch something that is a genuine competition,” he added.
