Max Verstappen says Michael Masi has been 'thrown under the bus' after losing race director role

Reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen says it is unfair Michael Masi has lost his job as race director and believes he has been «thrown under a bus». Verstappen won the 2021 championship off the back of a controversial decision made by Masi in the last moments of the final race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ad/> Masi, who is got a safety-based role at the FIA, has been replaced by two race directors who will rotate through the season. Season 2022F1 testing: Norris sets the pace on opening day of pre-seasonA DAY AGO The 24-year-old believes the FIA restructure is «very unfair» on the Australian and questioned whether team personnel should have bene allowed to communicate with him during the race.

«For me it's very unfair what happened to Michael because he's really been thrown under the bus,» he told reporters at pre-season testing. «Of course people talk a lot about what happened in Abu Dhabi, but can you imagine a referee in whatever sport has a coach, or equivalent, screaming in his ear all the time? »'Yellow card, red card, no decision, no foul!' It's impossible to make a decision.

«I think in the first place that F1 already allowed that, [that] team members can speak to him while making decisions, is very wrong because it needed to be Michael making the decisions on his own, without having people screaming in his ear.» /> He added: "[The fact] the people who did sack him allowed that in the first place, for me is unacceptable. «Now they sacked him and I find that really incredible.

I feel really sorry for Michael because I feel he was a really capable and good race director. »I have nothing against the new race directors because I think they're also very capable and good race directors, but for Michael I