Masi got here underneath hearth for the way in which he dealt with the closing phases of the 2021 season finale, the place he ended the security automobile interval simply in time to allow a final-lap showdown between title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
It allowed Purple Bull driver Verstappen, who was on more energizing tyres, to make a last-gasp go on Mercedes rival Hamilton for the lead and with it clinch his maiden drivers’ crown.
The critics felt Masi had not adopted the principles in Abu Dhabi on two counts, having neither allowed all lapped automobiles to unlap themselves nor left sufficient of a niche till the restart.
The FIA performed an investigation into his dealing with of the race and concluded that he had acted in “good religion”, even when there was a “human error” on his half in not letting all lapped automobiles rejoin the again of the sphere.
Masi was dropped from his submit as F1’s race director even earlier than the investigation had been accomplished and later cut up with the FIA altogether, with the governing physique happening to make a lot of adjustments to its process to be able to keep away from a repeat of the incident.
Though the furore relating to the 2021 title decider has died down through the years, partly as a consequence of Purple Bull’s dominance underneath new rules and Mercedes’ subsequent decline in kind, the Yas Marina race stays probably the most controversial occasions in current sporting historical past.
Michael Masi, FIA
Picture by: Erik Junius
In an interview performed final 12 months for The Components ebook, Wolff as soon as once more hit out on the Australian, saying it’s “unfair” how his actions tilted the title battle away from Hamilton.
“Once I hold my ideas working with it, it is so unfair what occurred to Lewis and the staff that day, {that a} single particular person breaking the principles has principally let that occur,” Wolff mentioned.
“Regardless that he is fully irrelevant: he lives on the opposite facet of the world and no one is excited about him.
“He was actually a complete, pathological egomaniac.”
In its investigation, the FIA famous that Masi had taken into consideration the wishes of F1 stakeholders, together with groups, to finish races underneath green-flag situations and keep away from anti-climactic security automobile finishes.
Wolff admitted there was a showbiz aspect to that 12 months’s Abu Dhabi finale, however feels Hamilton was “robbed” of a document eight drivers’ title in a transfer that left a long-lasting affect on the historical past of F1.
“It is the drama and glory, which makes the game so compelling,” he mentioned. “Everybody noticed the drama of a worthy eight-time world champion that was robbed of his title.
“I might reasonably have it completed the opposite means round, however clearly that is a mark in historical past.”
The Security Automotive leads Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, and the remainder of the sphere
Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photographs
On the finish of final 12 months Hamilton admitted he did briefly contemplate retiring from F1 within the wake of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, however finally determined to increase his profession in grand prix racing.
The British driver described the occasions that adopted the instant aftermath of the race, as he joined newly-crowned champion Verstappen within the parc ferme, because the “defining moments” of his life.
“Was I robbed? Clearly. You recognize the story,” Hamilton informed GQ journal. “However what was actually lovely in that second, which I take away from it, was my dad [Anthony] was with me. And we might gone by way of this enormous curler coaster of life collectively, ups and downs.
“And the day that it harm essentially the most, he was there, and the way in which he raised me was to all the time get up, hold your head excessive.
“I clearly went to congratulate Max, and never realising the affect that that might have, but additionally I used to be actually acutely aware of [that] there is a mini-me watching. That is the defining second of my life. And I believe it actually was. I felt it.
“I did not know the way it was going to be perceived. I hadn’t visualised it. However I used to be positively acutely aware of: These subsequent 50 meters that I stroll is the place I fall to the bottom and die, or I stand up.”
