Masi, who was born in Australia, was originally the supervisor of the Australian Supercar and local rally events, and became the F2 and F3 acting race supervisor in 2018. After Charlie Whiting died suddenly before the opening of the 2019 season, the FIA immediately appointed Masi as the F1 acting race supervisor. And in June of the same year, the job was really removed.
However, after Masi took office, there have been many controversies in the F1 arena, and a series of controversies peaked in the Abu Dhabi incident in 2021. Although the FIA issued a statement of condemnation in the motor sports parliament at the end of the year and launched the incident investigation process, and The new chairman Mohammed ben Sulayem also said after taking office that the report will be released before the opening of the 2022 season, but the FIA has not yet made any conclusions on the Abu Dhabi incident.
In this regard, the British “BBC” said in a recent report that most of the team’s executives and drivers had a strong sense of distrust towards Masi, and Masi should step down to show responsibility. The FIA was caught in a dilemma by a more suitable match supervisor than Masi.
At the same time, there is also news from the sidelines that Mercedes team seems to have asked Masi and single-seater racing technical supervisor Nicholas Tombazis to step down as a condition of abandoning the appeal, but of course, Mercedes team denied this statement.
While the media continued to track the incident in Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton, the driver involved, uncharacteristically did not post any messages on his social account after returning to the UK to participate in the award ceremony, and even violated the rules by missing the annual awards ceremony. Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater speculated that Hamilton may have had no expectations of the FIA, and may decide to retire depending on the FIA’s response.
“Although there are only 69 days left until the opening game, Lewis Hamilton’s movement is still a blank sheet of paper, and Mercedes team leader Toto Wolff also said that ‘the key to whether Hamilton will continue the battle lies with the FIA’; We understand that the longer things drag on, the more frustrated Hamilton will be.”
The BBC tried to seek a response from Mercedes, but Mercedes refused to answer questions as expected, althoughHamilton signed a two-year extension with Mercedes in July last yearAlready in effect, but Mercedes has not ruled out letting Hamilton “rest” and looking for an alternative.
Although Ben Sulayem said that he does not rule out punishing Hamilton for missing the award ceremony according to the rules, he is looking forward to Hamilton returning to the arena to accept the challenge:
“I don’t think Lewis will give up easily and he hasn’t made any public statements, as a driver you have to be clear and don’t let rumours go around easily.”
“Lewis is an important part of motorsport and F1, and the new generation of drivers can not only highlight Lewis’ achievements on the field, but also his greatest enemy.[Max]Verstappen is still on the court, so I’m sure we’ll see a competitive 2022 season. “