Calls For Formula One Racing Director To Be Fired Grow After Max Verstappen Final Lap Controversy

Formula One director Michael Masi has sparked outrage after Lewis Hamilton was ‘robbed’ in the final race of the season. 

However, a late safety car threw a spanner in the works. The race was restarted with just one lap to go, allowing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – on fresh tyres, compared to Hamilton’s old ones – to overtake and win the race.

Instead, Masi sped up the safety car procedure to bring forward a final lap between Hamilton and Verstappen. ‘Michael, this isn’t right,’ the Mercedes team complained over the radio. ‘It’s called a motor race, we went car racing,’ Masi responded.

Mercedes filed two protests, both of which were rejected by Formula 1 stewards. The team can still appeal, and a verdict is still awaited on the classification. For now at least, Verstappen has been confirmed as world champion.

The reaction on social media has been deafening. ‘#MichaelMasi needs to be fired from his role with the FIA immediately. He disgraced #F1 today and raised so many questions about internal rot,’ one user wrote. ‘Michael Masi just robbed Lewis Hamilton of the record breaking eighth and I’m still not over it, what a complete joke to the sport,’ another tweeted.

‘Michael Masi has put a whole new meaning to his job title of race director… the real 2021 Formula 1 World Champion is Lewis Hamilton!’ a third wrote. ‘FIA the entire season were a complete joke. Get rid of Michael Masi immediately,’ another wrote.

‘Whatever anyone thinks of Lewis and Max, I think we can all agree that Michael Masi has been a dreadful race director all year. The stuff between Max and Lewis, both ways, should have been stopped early on. Inconsistent penalties all season right through the grid. #masiout,’ a fifth tweeted.

‘Michael Masi’s explanation for what happened at the end, ‘It’s called a motor race’. Translation: We don’t care if we didn’t follow our own procedure, or if we changed our minds at the last minute,’ a sixth wrote.