Michael Masi: FIA may end spell as race director after Abu Dhabi controversy

Formula 1 could have a new race director in 2022 following the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA's head of single-seater says.

The sport's governing body is conducting a review into 2021's final race, when the safety car rules were not followed correctly by race director Michael Masi.

Peter Bayer, newly appointed as the FIA's head of F1, said: «Michael did a super job in many ways. We told him that.

»But also that there is a possibility there could be a new race director."

Bayer, who has long held the role of the FIA's secretary general for motorsport, is conducting the inquiry launched following the controversy of Abu Dhabi.

Masi failed to follow the rules in two different ways at Yas Marina — over the handling of lapped cars and over the timing of the restart of the race.

When the race was restarted for one final lap, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, on fresh tyres, passed long-time leader Lewis Hamilton, on used tyres, to beat the Mercedes driver to the title.

The result caused widespread uproar because Masi appeared to over-ride the rules with regard to the operation of the safety car, having come under pressure from the bosses of the two title-contending teams.

Hamilton is said to have lost faith with the FIA, and will not decide whether to return to F1 in 2022 until he sees the results of the FIA's inquiry.

The FIA is working on a new structure for race control, as BBC Sport reported on Thursday, and Bayer said this was likely to involve splitting the responsibilities Masi formerly held between a number of different people.

Bayer, speaking to the respected Austrian journalist Gerhard Kuntschick, said: "(We are looking at) dividing the various tasks of the race director, who is also sports director, safety and track