“I think you learn from each and every day”– F1 Race Director Michael Masi admits Belgian GP mistake

“I think you learn from each and every day”– F1 Race Director Michael Masi talks about the feedback he received from the drivers.

The Belgian Grand Prix was a frustrating affair for the whole paddock on Sunday, and after the end of the event, all the team bosses are asking for a change in the method by which the FIA handled the situation.

FIA Race Director Michael Masi talked about the blunder he faced and conceded that they could have solved the situation in a better way, and have received constructive feedback from the drivers.

“I spoke to a number of drivers [on Saturday] night to get their feedback and they gave me some very constructive feedback,” Masi told RacingNews365.com and other select members of the press.

“So yes, hindsight’s an amazing thing. And based on what they told me, having experienced the conditions at this circuit and all of the rest of it, we probably wouldn’t have started.”

“But that’s also a benefit of hindsight with them having driven on this circuit in those conditions, because each circuit is a bit different to the way the water comes off, with the way the tyres react, etcetera. It’s one of those where you have to treat everything on its merits.”

Every other track is different

Masi said that the FIA has received a lesson from Belgium but also talked about how every track reacts differently to the rain, and drivers in the formation lap was a way to receive feedback of the conditions from the drivers.

“I think you learn from each and every day,” Masi explained. “And as I said earlier, having spoken to a number of the drivers [Saturday] night, particularly after having experienced the weather, and driving on the track, it gave them a good reference.

“They gave me some amazing feedback on what can and can’t happen, which obviously helped my process for today and all of them that I spoke to was very willing to say ‘this is the window of what we can and can’t do’, which was extremely helpful.

“What we’ve always done, and we encouraged during the formation laps the first time, is for the drivers to give us feedback over the radio, and we did that in Hockenheim in 2019, we did that in Turkey [in 2020], wherever,” he added.

“Because obviously it’s live feedback from them at that point in time of what they can and can’t cope with based on that particular circuit.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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