Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has hit out at the FIA’s decision to axe Formula 1 race director, Australian Michael Masi.
Masi was dumped last week, two months after the controversial finish to the 2021 world championship in Abu Dhabi, that saw Horner’s driver Max Verstappen claim the title from Lewis Hamilton with a final lap pass.
The Australian had failed to follow the normal restart procedures after a safety car, had he done so, the Abu Dhabi race would have finished under caution and Hamilton would have been world champion.
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In what can only be seen as an admission that the race director’s role had grown into an impossible task, Masi will be replaced by two men in 2022, who will share the position. A separate virtual race control centre will also be created, to provide off-site support to the race director. Direct radio communications between the teams and the race director will also be scrapped.
Herbie Blash, who has been involved in F1 since the 1960s, and who was deputy race director for more than 20 years, has also returned after retiring in 2016. He will take up a position as a senior advisor to the race director.
According to Horner, Masi was hard done by.
“I think that it’s a difficult one, it’s the FIA’s business,” he told TalkSport. “I think it’s harsh.
“He was in a very difficult position last year. We feel that a lot of decisions went against us last year and I think when you look at what he has at his disposal in terms of resource compared to what the teams have, there’s such a massive, massive difference.
“It’s good to hear they’re bringing in things like the VAR equivalent and they’re bringing back one of the most experienced guys, Herbie Blash.
“I just think there was so much pressure put on the removal of Michael, that’s not right. That was my personal feeling.”
Mercedes protested the results of the Abu Dhabi race, arguing that the Sporting Regulations were breached during the deployment of the safety car.
But Horner says the fault lies with Mercedes for not calling Hamilton in for tyres, not Masi.
“It’s a bit of a smokescreen because, when you look back at that race, Mercedes had two opportunities to pit,” he said.
“There was a Virtual Safety Car and there was a Safety Car and the driver was asking to pit on both times and they left him out. And that’s what exposed him at the end of the race. Tactically, we got it right on the day and it’s those small margins.
“When the crash came five laps from the end with Nicholas Latifi we reacted immediately. We got Max in, we pitted him for a new set of tyres. Mercedes left Lewis out on what would become 44-lap-old tyres at the end of their life. And obviously Max had to make that pass on the last lap which he did.
“I think there’s been a bit of hiding around some of the controversy because the bottom line is tactically we got it right. Max delivered the move and became the world champion, so it was a phenomenal result.”
In a controversial season that will long be remembered, Horner pointed out that Red Bull felt aggrieved by decisions that went against them during the year, suggesting Mercedes should have copped the Abu Dhabi result on the chin.
“You could argue that about 100 different decisions that were made during the course of the year,” he said.
“Was the penalty at Silverstone big enough? Were the penalties that we got in Jeddah fair? There’s so many things. I think it’s time to turn the page, move on. There’s a new president in the FIA, he’s looking to put a new structure in place and embrace more technology to help support those officials.”
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