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Masi Replaced as Race Director

Started by mikeamerica84, February 18, 2022, 01:51:51 AM

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mikeamerica84

I thought this warranted its own thread.  He is still employed, though:

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Masi Replaced as Formula 1 Race Director
By Mat Coch
Friday 18th February, 2022 - 12:22am

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has confirmed Michael Masi will be replaced as Formula 1 race director from the start of pre-season testing this year.

The announcement comes following a meeting of the F1 Commission on Monday at which teams were presented with, and unanimously voted in favour of, a number of changes.

That includes the implementation of a virtual control room to assist the race director and further assistance to those in that role.

Ben Sulayam also confirmed that Masi will be offered another position within the FIA, with the race director role set to be shared going forward.

"During the F1 Commission meeting in London, I presented part of my plan for a new step forward in Formula 1 refereeing," Ben Sulayem explained in a video posted by the FIA.

"I proposed an in depth reform of the organisation of refereeing and race direction it was unanimously supported by the F1 CEO and teams principals.

"Firstly, to assist the race director in the decision making process, a virtual race control room will be created, and like the video assistant referee var and football, it will be positioned in one of the FIA offices as a backup outside the circuit and real time connection with the FIA F1 race director.

"It will help to apply the sporting regulations using the most modern technological tools.

"Secondary, direct radio communications during the race currently broadcast live by all TVs will be removed in order to protect the race director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully," he added.

"It will be still possible to ask questions to the race director. According to a well defined and non intrusive process.

"Thirdly, unflapping procedures behind safety car will be reassessed by the F1 sporting advisory committee and presented to the next F1 Commission prior to the start of the season.

"Finally, I would like to inform you that a new race management team will be put in place starting in Barcelona for the test session.

"Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas will act alternatively as the race director, assisted by Herbie Blash as permanent senior advisor.

"Michael Masi, who accomplished a very challenging job for three years as Formula 1 race director following Charlie Whiting, will be offered a new position within the FIA.

"I presented this complete plan to the members of the world motorsport council and the Senate who gave their full support.

"With this plan. FIA opens the way for a new step forward for Formula 1 refereeing without the referees, there is no sport, respect and support of the referees is in the essence of the FIA.

"That is why these structural changes are crucial in a context of strong development, and the legitimate expectations of drivers, teams, manufacturers, organisers, and of course, the fans."

The FIA announcement came moments after the launch of the Ferrari F1-75 concluded, which had the sport's media attention.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/02/18/masi-replaced-as-formula-1-race-director/

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These are the two things I thought should be highlighted:

"Secondary, direct radio communications during the race currently broadcast live by all TVs will be removed in order to protect the race director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully," he added.

"Thirdly, unflapping procedures behind safety car will be reassessed by the F1 sporting advisory committee and presented to the next F1 Commission prior to the start of the season.
The V8CFL - Without Fantasy, Life is Simply Life

Alan59

Sacrificial lamb to appease the gods -read Lewis and Toto.
What about the stewards at Abu Dhabi that backed his decision?Will they be sacked too?Didn't think so.
On the positive side Eduardo Freitas is the best race director in the sport and has been for a long time.Wouldn't take the job before because he wasn't prepared to commit himself to all the travel etc.Allowing him to do half the races only was the only way to get him on board.

stevo qld

I have great sympathy for Masi. At least now he is out of the firing line of partisan interests.

To have competing Team bossed yammering in his ear, during the race, proposing various actions that required a quick decision.

Had he not been on that headphone network, he would have realised that what red Bull was proposing was not totally within the rules.

The rule book, in any case probably needs a trolley to carry it around due to volume and weight.

The previous director was also frequently criticised by teams based on their own interests rather than F1.
Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
ALBERT EINSTEIN

V8SuperRiley

I don't have any real issue with him being replaced.

It's something that happens in multiple sports if an official makes a mistake, especially one that has huge ramifications.

I also don't get all the hate on Lewis and Toto. I think they still have every right to be annoyed at the way the whole situation was handled. It was the wrong decision, and it altered the result of the race and the championship.

Please note, I don't support Red Bull or Mercedes. McLaren and Williams are my teams.

Sonic

Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 02:19:33 PM
I don't have any real issue with him being replaced.

It's something that happens in multiple sports if an official makes a mistake, especially one that has huge ramifications.

I also don't get all the hate on Lewis and Toto. I think they still have every right to be annoyed at the way the whole situation was handled. It was the wrong decision, and it altered the result of the race and the championship.

Please note, I don't support Red Bull or Mercedes. McLaren and Williams are my teams.

same here that I am a 'racing fan' rather than a team/driver fan... and as such I was kind of glad for the way the decision went considering how some of the decisions were made earlier in the season.

It can rightly be said that the decision in the final race had its bearing on who won the race (and therefore the championship).... but it can also be said that the decisions made earlier in the season created the scenario where the drivers were both in the race to win the title.

You can't hate on one decision if you do not equally come down on the decisions that were in your favour that should not have been. (But of course they are all our own judgements!)

I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)
philwisewould.zenfolio.com - check out the photos after race weekend!

V8SuperRiley

Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 02:52:41 PM
Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 02:19:33 PM
I don't have any real issue with him being replaced.

It's something that happens in multiple sports if an official makes a mistake, especially one that has huge ramifications.

I also don't get all the hate on Lewis and Toto. I think they still have every right to be annoyed at the way the whole situation was handled. It was the wrong decision, and it altered the result of the race and the championship.

Please note, I don't support Red Bull or Mercedes. McLaren and Williams are my teams.

same here that I am a 'racing fan' rather than a team/driver fan... and as such I was kind of glad for the way the decision went considering how some of the decisions were made earlier in the season.

It can rightly be said that the decision in the final race had its bearing on who won the race (and therefore the championship).... but it can also be said that the decisions made earlier in the season created the scenario where the drivers were both in the race to win the title.

You can't hate on one decision if you do not equally come down on the decisions that were in your favour that should not have been. (But of course they are all our own judgements!)

I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)

Which decisions earlier in the season are we talking about, because there are a couple that I don't agree with either.

Sonic

Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 04:27:54 PM
Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 02:52:41 PM
Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 02:19:33 PM
I don't have any real issue with him being replaced.

It's something that happens in multiple sports if an official makes a mistake, especially one that has huge ramifications.

I also don't get all the hate on Lewis and Toto. I think they still have every right to be annoyed at the way the whole situation was handled. It was the wrong decision, and it altered the result of the race and the championship.

Please note, I don't support Red Bull or Mercedes. McLaren and Williams are my teams.

same here that I am a 'racing fan' rather than a team/driver fan... and as such I was kind of glad for the way the decision went considering how some of the decisions were made earlier in the season.

It can rightly be said that the decision in the final race had its bearing on who won the race (and therefore the championship).... but it can also be said that the decisions made earlier in the season created the scenario where the drivers were both in the race to win the title.

You can't hate on one decision if you do not equally come down on the decisions that were in your favour that should not have been. (But of course they are all our own judgements!)

I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)

Which decisions earlier in the season are we talking about, because there are a couple that I don't agree with either.

Yeah there were quite a few that became 'discussion points'... I was thinking mostly along the Merc/RB lines...

but then again we are talking about a racing series where the driver doesn't have to race inside the lines anywhere other than Monaco really aren't we....
philwisewould.zenfolio.com - check out the photos after race weekend!

V8SuperRiley

Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 04:51:58 PM
Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 04:27:54 PM
Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 02:52:41 PM
Quote from: V8SuperRiley on March 03, 2022, 02:19:33 PM
I don't have any real issue with him being replaced.

It's something that happens in multiple sports if an official makes a mistake, especially one that has huge ramifications.

I also don't get all the hate on Lewis and Toto. I think they still have every right to be annoyed at the way the whole situation was handled. It was the wrong decision, and it altered the result of the race and the championship.

Please note, I don't support Red Bull or Mercedes. McLaren and Williams are my teams.

same here that I am a 'racing fan' rather than a team/driver fan... and as such I was kind of glad for the way the decision went considering how some of the decisions were made earlier in the season.

It can rightly be said that the decision in the final race had its bearing on who won the race (and therefore the championship).... but it can also be said that the decisions made earlier in the season created the scenario where the drivers were both in the race to win the title.

You can't hate on one decision if you do not equally come down on the decisions that were in your favour that should not have been. (But of course they are all our own judgements!)

I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)

Which decisions earlier in the season are we talking about, because there are a couple that I don't agree with either.

Yeah there were quite a few that became 'discussion points'... I was thinking mostly along the Merc/RB lines...

but then again we are talking about a racing series where the driver doesn't have to race inside the lines anywhere other than Monaco really aren't we....

Yeah they really need to implement a racing room rule, similar to what we have in Supercars. Try and promote more side by side running, without the outside car backing out through fear of being driven off the track because the other car 'had the line'

stp01

Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 02:52:41 PM
I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)
I think you'll find Red Bull would have gone off their chops had the lapped cars remained in play. RBR radio messages a couple of laps from the end, I think the first was Verstappen's engineer -

Unknown: Cancel that. Lapped cars will not be allowed to overtake.
Max: Yeah of course. Typical decision.
Horner: It's classic
Max: I'm not surprised. Haha.

So pretty much playing the victim and accusing race control of favouring MB, without actually saying it.




Triple Eight and Holden
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Sonic

Quote from: stp01 on March 05, 2022, 11:07:06 AM
Quote from: Sonic on March 03, 2022, 02:52:41 PM
I thought that RB handled the decisions against them in a far more upright way than Merc did, but Merc really only had the one decision go against them that I can think of (the final one)
I think you'll find Red Bull would have gone off their chops had the lapped cars remained in play. RBR radio messages a couple of laps from the end, I think the first was Verstappen's engineer -

Unknown: Cancel that. Lapped cars will not be allowed to overtake.
Max: Yeah of course. Typical decision.
Horner: It's classic
Max: I'm not surprised. Haha.

So pretty much playing the victim and accusing race control of favouring MB, without actually saying it.

that is fair that they would be disappointed? but as I said, (in my mind at least), the decisions all through the year seemed to favour MB... a cynic may even say it was done to keep MB in the championship when RB was running away with it.

my reading was that they were ticked at one more nail in the coffin supplied by people in the tower rather than having it being decided on track.
philwisewould.zenfolio.com - check out the photos after race weekend!

stp01

#10
Have you heard the radio messages?  The tone in their voices indicated sarcasm and bias - not disappointment. 

MB copped their fair share of decisions against them during the year, dating all the way back to the moment the 2021 floor changes were announced during 2020.

Masi would still have the job if he'd followed the rulebook, and not just the rule that basically says "Masi can do whatever the **** he wants". 



Triple Eight and Holden
2022 Supercars Drivers Champion
2022 Supercars Teams Champion
2022 Supercars Manufacturers Champion
2022 Super2 Drivers Champion

Sonic

Quote from: stp01 on March 06, 2022, 11:25:32 AM
Have you heard the radio messages?  The tone in their voices indicated sarcasm and bias - not disappointment. 

MB copped their fair share of decisions against them during the year, dating all the way back to the moment the 2021 floor changes were announced during 2020.

Masi would still have the job if he'd followed the rulebook, and not just the rule that basically says "Masi can do whatever the **** he wants".

yup, I got that... they expected the decision to go against them... to me that shows an ongoing thing that had been happening all year.

do agree too that disappointment was probably the wrong word for what I was trying to get across.
philwisewould.zenfolio.com - check out the photos after race weekend!

V8SuperRiley

To me, the right decision would have hindered them, so of course they would have expected it to go against them.

Decisions had gone both ways all year. RB and MB both got their fair share of calls going against them.

The incorrect decision was ultimately made.

mikeamerica84

I like how they abided by the established/written wave around rule this past round at Bahrain.
The V8CFL - Without Fantasy, Life is Simply Life

madbugger

Quote from: mikeamerica84 on March 21, 2022, 03:10:26 PM
I like how they abided by the established/written wave around rule this past round at Bahrain.

Hard to see them getting it so wrong again, given the commentary worldwide after last year
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