Former Formula One race director Michael Masi has left the FIA less than six months after being sacked by F1.
The Australian was removed from the role after Max Verstappen’s controversial Abu Dhabi victory over Lewis Hamilton handed the Dutchman the 2021 world championship.
An FIA report found Masi had mishandled the safety-car procedure near the end of the race and he was replaced by a new team, with the race director role split between Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich.
On Tuesday, a statement confirmed: “Michael Masi has decided to leave the FIA and relocate to Australia to be closer to his family and take on new challenges.
“He oversaw a three-year period as FIA Formula 1 race director and safety Delegate following the sudden passing of Charlie Whiting in 2019, carrying out the numerous functions he was tasked with in a professional and dedicated manner.
“The FIA thanks him for his commitment and wishes him the best for the future.”
F1 has failed to clean up the disagreements over the race director role following Masi’s departure with a number of drivers speaking out over inconsistencies in handing out penalties for on-track incidents.
George Russell said during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend: “I do agree that we need to stick with one race director, we need to have more consistency with the stewarding. We come to the following event and often the steward from the previous event is not there so there’s no accountability or no explanations of decisions.
“We ask questions and it’s difficult to get a straightforward answer because, I wouldn’t say the blame, but the blame is put onto someone else who isn’t there. It is tricky, everybody has their own interpretations.”
