Sebastian Vettel believes Formula 1 would be a lot better off this season if Michael Masi was still race director.
The Australian was axed from the role in the off season after being blamed for mishandling the final stages of last season's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen won his maiden F1 title in controversial circumstances, with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton left feeling like they had been robbed.
They were happy to see the back of Masi when the FIA announced he had been moved to a different role, and Toto Wolff said it was "very encouraging" to see the sport's governing body take action. But not everyone was so thrilled to see the back of Masi.
Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich now share the role, and can rely on the guidance of Herbie Blash who has returned as an adviser having previously worked with Masi's predecessor Charlie Whiting. But Vettel still believes that team is missing the know-how which the ousted Australian brought to the table.
"What we are missing now is the experience that Michael had and brought to the job because he did it for so long and grew up with it," the German told the Press Association. "It is not an easy position now because there is more focus and more spotlight on what is happening at Race Control.
"But I hope things calm down and we find a way to work together, as in the drivers and the FIA. You cannot make everybody happy, but we need to try and make both sides more happy." Vettel's position has not changed since the race in Abu Dhabi, as he was one of the loudest voices to come out in Masi's defence in the aftermath.
"Michael has been very focused and determined to do a good job," he said at the end of last season. "I don't know what is in store for his future, but I hope he sticks around because overall he has done a very good job. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the last race but that shouldn't be because if you look at the bigger picture he has done really well."
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem admitted last week that the race director issue has been brought up again in the wake of how rain in Monaco was dealt with, but insists it is not an easy problem to fix. "We have a great many tasks ahead of us. Formula 1 alone is a huge challenge. The GP drivers have asked me to take care of the race control issue," he told Speedweek.
"I can't very well search for new race directors on Google or buy them on Amazon. Race directors have to be trained carefully and over years. The race directors of the future will be trained in Geneva. We achieve three goals at the same time – training, the current race stewards get more practice, and we have more experts on hand when there is an emergency."
