When Michael Masi lost his job as F1’s race director, an overwhelming majority of the sport’s community celebrated his removal. Ever since the controversy surrounding Lewis Hamilton at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, people were asking for Masi to be removed. Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, however, wants him brought back.
Masi did not get a lot of public support after being fired. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and 2021 Champion Max Verstappen were some of the few who did. Recently, however, former Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel came out to show his support for Masi. According to him, F1 is missing the experience that he is.
BREAKING: FIA confirms Michael Masi has been removed from his position as race director. pic.twitter.com/F5s1dFULFk
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) February 17, 2022
To replace Masi as race director, FIA appointed two new officials in 2022. Eduardo Freitas and Neils Wittich both acted as race directors throughout the 2022 season, and are set to continue next year as well. Vettel meanwhile, noticed lots of problems in decision-making, which is where Masi could have helped.
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F1 is missing Michael Masi, says Sebastian Vettel
According to Business F1, Vettel noticed several issues with Formula 1 having two different race directors. The German driver was not happy with how the decision-making was carried out and cites the lack of experience between Wittich and Freitas as the main reason behind this. Vettel feels that it was an area in which Masi could have helped F1 drivers a lot.
The controversial director has left the FIA to move back to Australia pic.twitter.com/BnL7w0Mdts
— Daily Star Sport (@DailyStar_Sport) July 12, 2022
“What we are missing right now is the experience that Michael had and brought to the job,” said Vettel. “Because he did it for so long and grew up with it.”
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Was Vettel actually referring to Masi?
Masi joined F1 as race director in 2019, which means he had a total of three years of experience in the sport. That is why it was confusing to hear Vettel speak about Masi’s ‘experience’. Business F1 stated that the former Ferrari driver was actually referring to Charlie Whiting.
Whiting was F1’s race director 21 years, and was a well loved figure in the paddock. ‘Vettel may have been confusing Masi with Charlie Whiting,’ Business F1 wrote.
Masi left F1 to become a race director in other FIA sanctioned racing series. However, in 2022, he decided to leave FIA altogether and move back to Australia, thus ending all association with the organization.
