Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has backed the FIA’s decision to remove race director Michael Masi following the controversial end to the 2021 season.
With the new campaign just weeks away, Formula One will operate under two new race directors with Eduardo Defreitas and Niels Wittich rotating the role, alongside assistant Herbie Blash and a remote race control room.
After Mercedes considered a legal challenge to Lewis Hamilton’s defeat at the hands of Max Verstappen during the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Wolff is pleased to see the sport freshen up its protocol.
He told reporters on Friday: “I think it’s very encouraging to see that action has been taken.
“There’s a much more robust structure now for the racing director. The FIA said there will be a virtual race control room, state-of-the-art technology and new guys for the Barcelona test. For us, the right steps.”
Hamilton, 37, has declared himself ready to fight for the title once again amid rumours that he would retire. Wolff added that the seven-time champion’s future was not linked to Masi’s fate.
He insisted: “Absolutely not. I think it was for Lewis himself to decide how can I digest the events from Abu Dhabi and the same for the team, and I think we moved on.
“It's in the past. It's not something that we will, in a way, recover [from], but it wasn't a condition.
“I have known Lewis for such a long time and I wasn't [concerned about him quitting], but obviously this has had such an impact on him. When everything you do is about fairness and justice and then that happens to you, it is quite difficult, I understand, to cope with that.”
