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Author Topic: Masi out!  (Read 1229 times)

Offline Jericoke

Masi out!
« on: February 17, 2022, 06:12:37 PM »
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why-masis-departure-from-f1-was-an-inevitable-call/8257146/

So Michael Masi is OUT as race director, replaced by Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich.  I guess they'll be doing different races.

There will also be a permanent video review assigned to help the race director with rules enforcement.

Teams' contact with the race director will also NOT be part of the race broadcast.

SO:  even though I feel that Masi got the call 'wrong' at the time, I feel like this is the FIA putting an asterisk on Verstappen's championship.  If Masi was right, then he should keep his job, and if he was wrong, then the win has to be called into question.  The FIA needs to present a united front, supporting officials, teams and participants with one voice.  This ain't it.  Hell, make a deal with Masi where he 'resigns', deciding the pressure isn't as much fun as he'd expected.

I do think the added video review specialists is a positive move.  Most other sports do it, and F1 is supposed to be one of the fastest and most precise sports, they need video review more than anyone.

I don't know much about Freitas nor Wittich, though I expect they should be able to do as good a job as Masi did, and given time put their stamp on the sport like Whiting did.

I am going to miss Wolff and Horner whining to Masi though.



Offline Monty

Re: Masi out!
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2022, 07:36:34 PM »
What do you mean ‘if’ Masi got it wrong? 😉
From what I have read, everyone (except those Max fans that are blinded by their support) think Masi got it wrong. His position has been untenable from the minute Max on his new tyres passed the deserving winner Hamilton.

Offline Andy B

Re: Masi out!
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2022, 08:16:35 PM »
Quite agree Monty nobody in F1 is allowed to break the rules but Masi did and affected the championship result so he had to go.
Once you have retired every day is a Saturday!

Offline cosworth151

Re: Masi out!
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2022, 11:38:30 PM »
It took an awfully long time to arrive at the decision how to do the restart. I wonder if the order did come from or from on high in the Place de la Concorde.
“You can search the world over for the finer things, but you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it.”
― Bob Dylan

Offline John S

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Re: Masi out!
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2022, 07:27:53 PM »
My beef is replacing Masi with Wittich who ballsed up the last race of DTM last season by going blind for certain robust rubbin, well shunts really, giving the championship to a Merc driver instead of young rookie Liam Lawson in the Red Bull Ferrari.  :o
Seems to me the FIA is wearing an eyepatch too with this appointment.   :crazy:

Lets hope they have not thrown the baby out with the Brackley scented bathwater.  :D
Racing is Life - everything else is just....waiting. (Steve McQueen)

Offline Alianora La Canta

Re: Masi out!
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2022, 09:00:57 PM »
F1 already had video review permanently available to stewards; this is apparently going to act as a second incident filter. I think the eventual goal is to station it in England or France, but starting with it a few miles outside the circuit (as I believe is currently planned) will allow testing and correction over the course of a live season.

Eduardo Freitas is a race director in whom I have confidence, who has shown much skill, and I think the alternation is to allow him to also continue as WEC race director (where he is well-loved). Unfortunately, having Wittich do the other half of the races is a bit of a liability as his record is not only less good, but his general style of direction is very different from Freitas'. Thus there is likely to be more confusion and inconsistency even if he gets a competence upgrade from the promotion.

The other thing to say is that it's possible Wittich might have been "the best that could be found under the circumstances" as it seems the FIA was rushing to get this done before Lewis Hamilton was obliged to decide whether to continue or retire (due to the Mercedes launch). Given how poorly the FIA had handled the enquiry so far, Lewis would have been in a strong position to demand this as a condition of not retiring. (Contrast 1990, where Ayrton Senna was unable to persuade the FIA to change its controversial position and was indeed forced into an apology for challenging the FIA in the way he did).

Sadly this does nothing for the other part of the problem, which is that Masi appeared to be acting under direction from further up the chain (not so much in the "last 5 laps of Abu Dhabi" tactical sense, but the "post-summer-break phase of the season" strategic sense). This is also borne out by the controversial and sometimes dangerous behaviour of race directors in DTM, Dakar and Formula E. The FIA has 5 more weeks (until it is due to publish its report into Abu Dhabi) to get this sorted out, otherwise there will be lawyers - and not ones Mercedes or Lewis can control or call off. You have been warned.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2022, 09:02:36 PM by Alianora La Canta »
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Offline Jericoke

Re: Masi out!
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2022, 01:15:01 PM »
Eduardo Freitas is a race director in whom I have confidence, who has shown much skill, and I think the alternation is to allow him to also continue as WEC race director (where he is well-loved). Unfortunately, having Wittich do the other half of the races is a bit of a liability as his record is not only less good, but his general style of direction is very different from Freitas'. Thus there is likely to be more confusion and inconsistency even if he gets a competence upgrade from the promotion.

Many sports have different officials 'refereeing' any given event, so the one person show that is F1 always has been is the outlier.  Of course, most other sports have hundreds of total events over a season, and having a single voice simply isn't possible.  While I'd like to see a single point of view as race director, so the teams can get a feeling for what's 'fair' and what isn't, each track is unique, providing different challenges, so maybe having a variety of race direction will also provide those unique challenges that some teams/drivers can rise to, and some can't.

Still, I expect a 'favourite' to come out of this, with either Freitas or Wittich (or even someone else) getting the permanent role in the future.

Offline John S

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Re: Masi out!
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2022, 01:26:30 PM »

Still, I expect a 'favourite' to come out of this, with either Freitas or Wittich (or even someone else) getting the permanent role in the future.

Or maybe even Masi back the following season.  :tease: - After his year of re-training, of course.  ;)

Now is'nt that modern business practice to send workers who c*ck-up for re-training rather than firing them and risking a lawsuit. :D
Racing is Life - everything else is just....waiting. (Steve McQueen)

 


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