FIA: Massey’s ‘human error’ in Abu Dhabi, acting in good faith

The final chapter in the drama of winning the 2021 F1 Championship in Abu Dhabi was one of the most controversial, if not scandalous, in history thanks to the way the then-FIA chief of races handled the safety car fact that within a round . in the latter, Max gave Ferstappen an unexpected shot at winning the championship while Lewis Hamilton was on course to win it.

The ensuing outcry, with rave reviews on social media, was seen by the FIA ​​as damaging the image of Formula One – and so the International Federation proceeded with a detailed investigation and subsequent compilation of the relevant report on the afternoon’s events from September 12, 2021 in Yas Marina.

Two months later, in mid-February, he announced the removal of Michael Massey as match director and the restructuring of decision-making during the Grand Prix. However, the results of the investigation were not released at the time – as the FIA ​​had reserved them for today, an hour before qualifying testing of the opening game of 2022, the Bahrain GP.

The inquiry provides a detailed analysis of the race director’s role, Massey’s discussions with the directors of Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, the FIA’s governance structure and the process by which vehicles accepted around the champion can cross the safety vehicle and back again enter the round of the race.

One of the main conclusions of the research states that Masi had several parameters that distracted him at a very critical point in the Abu Dhabi game. In fact, he did “The Race Director’s communication with the Directors of Red Bull Racing and Mercedes during the final laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP negatively impacted the smooth running of the final laps as it distracted the Race Director when he had to attend to difficult and pressing ones make decisions.

It was found that these communications were neither necessary nor helped the smooth running of the game. On the contrary, the conclusion is that they have increased the pressure on the competition. i.eat a critical moment and possibly trying to influence the decisions the race director would make”.

Regarding the cars that have passed the lap and can pass the security vehicle, the FIA ​​report claims that the draft of the relevant regulation is such as to create confusion. And consequently this “There could be different interpretations of Articles 48.12 and 48.13.” According to the FIA, this partly contributed to the confusion with the cars that passed the security vehicle in Abu Dhabi.

The FIA ​​​​​​will be revising these articles of the regulations while also announcing that new software has been developed that will automatically show which cars and when they can pass the security vehicle and enter the lap of the race. We remind you that Massey had ordered the OA to overtake only the 5 drivers who were between Hamilton and Ferstappen after the Dutchman’s pit stop, and not the other three who were sitting in the back seats. He was accused of this because the other three would likely not have time to overtake before the final lap begins if the race ended under the safety car.

According to the investigation, it was decided in previous meetings of the FIA ​​bodies with the teams that, unless it is unsafe, no attempt should be made to finish a GP under the status of a safety car. And according to the FIA, Masi still took that into account at the end of the Amu Dabi GP.

The FIA ​​inquiry cites the GP’s decision-making structure as weak, explains that there was no support for Massey’s work and details the provision of additional support and infrastructure to the race director, designed to help him take a more rational approach to making his decisions .

The research therefore states: “Combined with the goal of ending Green Flag racing in 2021, the report concludes that the race director acted to the best of his knowledge and knowledge of the difficult conditions, particularly given the time constraints and the unbearable pressure that comes with it being exerted by the teams”.

Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool