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Max Verstappen sent Michael Masi a message after the drama of Abu Dhabi had unfolded, and the World Champion argued his removal of race director was an “unfair” one, adding that he needed more support.

Masi’s decision to allow racing to restart after a late Safety Car period in last season’s finale provided a controversial conclusion to the year and, following an internal FIA investigation, a new structure has been put in place in Race Control and the under-fire race director was relieved of his role as a result.

Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich will now direct races on a rotating basis, in the hope of avoiding burnout across a record 23-round calendar in 2022.

The Red Bull driver spoke previously about how he felt Masi was “thrown under the bus” in the aftermath of the race, and he said they have since exchanged messages.

“What happened to Michael is very unfair,” Verstappen told the Daily Mail. “The FIA were pressurised into making a decision. I wrote a message to him about it.

“I said we didn’t always agree on everything but that’s racing. We always wanted to make the sport better as a whole.

“Nobody is perfect, but what was always brought up was that we needed to race. We needed that mindset and he had that.”

Masi became race director after a spell as deputy for Charlie Whiting, but was launched into the main role after the former race director’s untimely death