The FIA has confirmed that Michael Masi has left the organisation.
Michael Masi, was the FORMULA 1 race director until the conclusion of the 2022 season.
The FIA decided to replace the Australian for the 2023 season after it had admitted that errors were made during the Championship deciding race in Abu Dhabi. The main issue was when Masi pulled the safety car in to the pits early after allowing lapped cars to pass. This was against the rules, which state that the Safety Car returns to the pits on the following lap after the lapped cars have passed the leader.
..once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
part of the regulation 39.12 of the FORMULA 1 Sporting Regulations
Although the FIA didn’t name Masi directly, they concluded that “human error”had been a big factor in the events of the closing laps of the Grand Prix.
Masi was somewhat admonished by the governing body, stating that all decisions had been made in “good faith”.
Michael Masi’s position as the Race Director had become untenable, with some of the opinion that the out come of the race and the drivers championship was manipulated in favour of Max Verstappen.
Due to this and the outcome of the investigation, Masi was moved aside in favour of Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.
Since his removal as Race Director, Michael Masi had continued to work within the FIA, with the organisation also stating that he would be offered a new role.
The FIA confirmed Masi’s decision to leave and relocation to Australia in a short statement.