Controversial Australian race director Michael Masi may have avoided the sack but could reportedly be removed from his role as F1 race director within days.
The FIA (International Automobile Federation’s) has begun its investigation into the 2021 season-ending controversy in Abu Dhabi and has signalled imminent “structrual changes” after the first day of discussions in London.
“Feedback from the commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the president’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days,” the FIA said in a statement.
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The body did not specify what the structural changes could be but Sky Sports F1 reporter Craig Slater said Masi was likely to leave his role to take up another safety-related position.
The move would be welcome news for Mercedes, who are said to have demanded changes be made to ensure a “disillusioned” Lewis Hamilton returns to the sport this season.
“Structural changes would suggest a change in personnel, potentially with regards to the race director,” Slater said.“Is it now set for Michael Masi to perhaps move position within the FIA? There have been significant suggestions from insiders I’ve spoken to that he might take on a safety role and perhaps other individuals will look after the race direction itself.
“If that (Masi being removed from the role) were to be confirmed in the coming days, that might be the material change that perhaps Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were looking for.”
Both Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner attended the four-hour summit, which was chaired by newly-appointed FIA president Ben Sulayem.
Masi’s position has been under heavy scrutiny after he was accused of bending the rules to allow Max Verstappen the chance to beat Hamilton to the title amid a late safety car drama in the season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
The summit comes just a week after damning audio of a conversation between Michael Masi and Red Bull during the race came to light last week.
Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle labelled the audio — which appears to show Masi bowing to pressure from Red Bull — as “really uncomfortable” listening”.
KEY RULE CHANGE RUBBER-STAMPED
Meanwhile, the FYI said it had changed a wet-weather rule that helped Verstappen snatch last season’s Formula One title and had dialled back plans for six ‘sprint’ qualifiers.
While staying tight-lipped on details of its Abu Dhabi investigatin, the FIA did address an earlier controversy at the Belgian Grand Prix in August. Verstappen was declared the winner and awarded half the points for a victory, even though the race was cancelled because of heavy rain.
The FIA said it had approved changes to rules for weather-affected races. “No points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or Virtual Safety Car intervention,” said the statement.
It has introduced a progressive points system based on the percentage of the planned distance covered.
If the cars have raced less than 25 per cent of the distance, the winner will get six points and the next four cars will collect four, three, two and one points.
If the race was between 25 per cent and 50 per cent complete, “the winner will get 13 points (then 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for the following).
“Between 50 per cent and 75 per cent, it will be 19 points (then 14, 12, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1).” Sprints were introduced at three races last season and the teams favoured an increase this season. Formula One and its sporting director Ross Brawn had talked about an agreement in principle for six.
The FIA capped the number at three: Emilia-Romagna (April 24), Austria (July 10) and Brazil (November 13).
The FIA statement said there was “a recognition by all that the format created positive benefits for the sport.” But, it added, that teams were facing a challenging year because of car redesigns and three was accepted “as a sensible number in light of the pressures already on the teams for this season with the introduction of major changes to the regulations.” Under the sprint format, the classic qualifying is moved from Saturday to Friday. It determines the starting grid for the sprint race of about 100km (30 minutes) on Saturday.
The sprints offer championship points and in 2022,these will be increased to eight for the first down to one for the eighth. In 2021 only the first three gained bonus points.
The FIA also tweaked the way the grid for the main race on Sunday is decided. Pole position will be awarded to the fastest finisher in Friday qualifying but all the other grid places will be settled by the sprint.