Vettel: Masi has done a great job, I hope he sticks around
F1 NewsThursday, 10 February 2022 at 18:44
Sebastian Vettel said he hopes Formula 1 race director Michael Masi keeps his job after the Australian made a series of controversial calls in the final stages of the 2021 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that denied Lewis Hamilton an unprecedented eighth title.
Masi has come under fire for his decision to alter the safety car procedure by getting only the lapped cars between race-leading Hamilton and second-placed rival Max Verstappen out of the way after a late-race crash.
The decision set up a last-lap showdown between the two title rivals and allowed Verstappen, on fresher tyres, to pass Hamilton and win his first title.
"It's not the easiest sometimes to be in the shoes of the referee or Michael's shoes," said four-time F1 World Champion Vettel ahead of the launch of his Aston Martin team's new car for 2022.
"But I think he's done a great job especially filling in after Charlie [Whiting] passed away so suddenly..." explained 34-year-old Vettel.
The governing FIA has launched an investigation into the controversy, which has prompted speculation about Hamilton's future in the sport.
If you look at the bigger picture Masi has done really well
The outcome of the investigation, led by the FIA's executive director of single-seaters Peter Bayer, will be put before the Formula One Commission next week.
Final decisions are expected to be announced at the World Motor Sport Council on March 18, the same day as Friday's practise for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Bayer said in an interview with Austrian newspaper Vorarlberger Nachrichten that the FIA were looking at dividing Masi's tasks as race director to ease his workload.
Masi stepped into the role of race director after respected predecessor Whiting died suddenly on the eve of the 2019 season.
Yet Vettel also raised the possibility that there could be a new race director: "I don't know either what's his future but I hope he sticks around because I think overall he did a very, very good job,
"I think there's a lot of controversy for the last race. There shouldn't be. If you look at the bigger picture he's done really well," ventured Vettel.
As for putting Abu Dhabi behind, he added: "The main thing is that we focus on the sport and not so much on the show. Last year it was always going to be a great final or great last race, because there was one winner and one loser.
"Ideally, you have two winners, but that's not how the sport is designed, or any sport is designed, so it wasn't going to work.
"Obviously, I was in the race and wondering why we're not released earlier in order to get the race started again, but I guess there's a protocol and rules.
"The main thing is that going forwards there's clarity [over] what's happening in these sort of situations and no questions asked anymore," insisted the 53-time Grand Prix winner. '(Reporting by Abhishek Takle)
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