The Michael and the man he’s running here is Michael Masi. For three years the director of the Formula 1 race, but this February the FIA was removed from office. And even though none of the officials said it out loud, it is a punishment for the messy end of last year’s last race in Abu Dhabi, who “passed” the title to Verstappen at the expense of Hamilton in a thrilling battle. This, too, is the answer to why their current rhetoric is so different.
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The controversial culmination of the 2021 season in Formula 1Video: Dominik Hejbal, Sport.cz
Masi – and now let’s leave it according to the rules or not – significantly affected the course of the championship last year and especially in Abu Dhabi agreed to a controversial event, when the race quickly restarted and Verstappen blew the British title on the new tires in the last lap. “As if during a football match, one team led 1-0 and suddenly the referees said: It’s 0-0 and whoever scores a goal wins. Mercedes, for which Hamilton is racing.
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It has been speculated that he was behind Masi’s dismissal, as the director’s departure was his condition for the team to withdraw the lawsuit for the results from Abu Dhabi and for Hamilton to continue in F1. Wolff refuses, but in F1 it is quite often the case that for every “bit of truth”. However, Wolff’s rival Red Bull counterpart, Christan Horner, openly told the BBC, “Was it right that Michael was fired under pressure from one team? No! It was bullying and unacceptable.”
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Even Horner admitted that Masi was making too many mistakes.
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However, with Masi’s release, the FIA made it clear that the end of last season was not kosher, although she did not confess loudly to the mines. Instead of Masi, the duo will now be overseen by a duo of Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich – the first has so far been the director of the WEC World Endurance Championship, the second of the prestigious DTM touring car series.
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The two will take turns in the proceedings and will have Herbie Blash’s adviser, who held a similar position from 1995 to 2016. In addition, the FIA is introducing video surveillance, which will be located at the federation’s headquarters and will be available to their directors for football consultations. At the same time, team leaders are prohibited from exerting any pressure on directors’ decisions prior to radio communications.
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