Michael Masi was sacked by the FIA after Max Verstappen won his first world title at the expense of Lewis Hamilton.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has opened the door for Michael Masi to return to F1 two years after he broke the FIA’s own rules at the Abu Dhabi season finale in 2021. Masi was sacked as race director after he allowed one final lap of racing between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with the former coming out on top to secure his first world title.
Later, an FIA investigation discovered that Masi had broken the rules by only letting a few lapped cars pass the safety car in the closing moments. In addition, he disregarded protocol by rejoining the race on the very next lap instead of running a full lap behind the safety car after the lapped cars had repositioned.
After the race in Abu Dhabi two years ago, Ben Sulayem took over as FIA president from Jean Todt, and he has since stated that Masi will be welcomed back with open arms if he decides to return to Formula One.
Ben Sulayem told The Independent, “I always apologize, but I cannot apologize for something that was done before my time.” “I’ll apologize, but I’ll bring Michael Masi along once more. Do you believe it to be correct? A person who has experienced abuse and attacks is known as the poor guy.
“Michael Masi endured terrible things. Oh no! And I will bring Michael Masi in if I see an opportunity that the FIA needs to take advantage of and he is the right person to do so.”
More than 108,000 people signed a petition to have the outcome of the controversial race in Abu Dhabi overturned, expressing the outrage of many fans at what they perceived to be an injustice against Hamilton. Ultimately, though, it was met with silence as neither Mercedes nor the FIA chose to contest the outcome.
Ben Sulayem continued by saying he received death threats after the race and drawing comparisons between it and the 1966 World Cup final, in which England defeated West Germany despite replays demonstrating the ball did not cross the line.
He continued, “I had people threatening to kill me because I could make a difference.” “But I apologized, asking if they were aware that England had played Germany in the 1966 World Cup. Have they made any changes? Not at all. Did Germany receive it from them? Nein.
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