Christian Horner criticises Michael Masi's 'harsh' Formula 1 sacking by FIA

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has criticised the FIA’s decision to remove Michael Masi as race director for Formula 1.

The Australian was ousted from the role last week after new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem chaired a meeting of the F1 Commission in London, and will be replaced by a new race control team with an increased staff and resources.

Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich are being brought across to F1 from their race director roles in the World Endurance Championship and DTM series respectively, and will alternate in the role on a race-by-race basis. The FIA is also introducing a new virtual race control centre that Ben Sulayem says will serve a similar purpose as the VAR system in football.

Masi will be offered a new role with the FIA, Ben Sulayem added, but his removal is to all intents and purposes a sacking and an admission by the governing body that his decision-making in the controversial running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was deeply flawed.

An unprecedented interpretation of the safety car rules by Masi rendered long time race leader Lewis Hamilton a sitting duck with one lap of racing remaining, and essentially gifted the title to Max Verstappen and dictated the outcome of one of the most intensely contested seasons in the 70-year history of Formula 1.

Horner, though, says Masi’s sacking is cruel and that meagre race control resources were partly to blame.

‘It’s a difficult one,” Horner told TalkSport. ‘It’s the FIA’s business. I think it is harsh, I think he was in a very difficult position last year. We felt a lot of the decisions went against us. When you look at what he has at his disposal in terms of resource, compared to what the teams have, it’s such a massive difference.

Mercedes