A senior FIA official involved in the aftermath of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has publicly defended Michael Masi, the former Formula 1 race director removed from his position following that season finale, according to GPtoday.com.
The headline from the Portuguese-language report characterizes Masi as a “lunatic” — a term the official appears to be challenging or contextualizing in their defense of the Australian’s conduct during the controversial final race of the 2021 championship.
The Abu Dhabi 2021 Controversy
Masi’s decisions in the closing laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix remain among the most scrutinized in modern Formula 1 history. His handling of the safety car procedure in the final laps directly determined the outcome of the drivers’ championship, with Max Verstappen overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the final lap after a restart that followed non-standard procedures for lapped car overtaking.
The FIA conducted an internal inquiry following the race. Masi was subsequently removed from the race director role in February 2022, though the governing body maintained at the time that his decisions were made in good faith under pressure. He left the FIA entirely later that year.
Ongoing Reverberations
That a key FIA figure is now speaking publicly in Masi’s defense more than four years after the incident indicates the event continues to generate internal discussion within motorsport’s governing body. The 2021 finale led to structural changes in race control, including the introduction of a rotating race director system and a permanent senior advisor role, before the FIA eventually returned to a single race director model.
The FIA has not issued any formal re-evaluation of the Abu Dhabi decisions. The 2026 season operates under race directors appointed in the wake of Masi’s departure, with Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas having shared duties before Wittich became the primary race director.
Full details of the official’s statements were not available at the time of publication. The defense comes as Formula 1 enters the second race weekend of the 2026 season, with the sport having moved on institutionally even as the 2021 finale remains a reference point in debates over race control and regulatory consistency.