"Not a departure" - Ferrari claims FIA reshuffle not an indication of Michael Masi's guilt

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto claims that the FIA's reshuffling of internal personnel does not indicate that race director Michael Masi did anything wrong. Masi was allegedly removed from his role as race director for the mismanagement in the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Michael Masi came under considerable scrutiny for his mismanagement of the late safety car in Abu Dhabi. Several veterans of the sport, including Sebastian Vettel and Helmut Marko, have defended the Australian for doing his job under stressful conditions.

When Mattia Binotto was asked about his views on the matter, the Ferrari team principal said:

“I think it is not a departure. It is a shuffling within the FIA so Michael Masi is still there in a different role and I think his new role will be as key as the previous one. I am pretty sure he will do a good job as he did [as race director]. On the sporting regulations I think it is always a matter of continuous improvement, trying to understand how we can do better and I think that the FIA decided to make some changes. I think we need to trust their independence, the way that they act. They had time to analyse, time to discuss.”

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Ferrari's Mattia Binotto believes there is no need to change all sporting regulations

With F1 undergoing radical changes to its technical and monetary regulations, many believe the sporting regulations need to be revamped after the Abu Dhabi debacle. Mattia Binotto, however, believes the regulations do not require radical change, but will instead benefit from regular optimization.

He explained his stance, saying:

“I don’t think there is a necessity to revamp the sporting regulations, it is a matter of continuous improvement and optimisation. I think that the current regs, for many years, have been discussed, agreed, have been modified, have been optimised. We have got a governance in place where we are discussing through a process at first a sporting advisory group but then as well the F1 Commission. So I think that there is a clear process in place that is robust, that has existed for years.”

The Ferrari boss, however, does not think the regulations are perfect as they are. The Italian claims there is always room for improvement but is against the use of the word 'revamped' when talking about sporting regulations. He concluded, saying:

“Honestly, there is always room for improvement. I think that is important. I think we can always learn from the past but revamping is, I believe, not the right word.”

Ferrari's 2022 campaign is looking promising, with their new F1-75 having impressed fans and critics ahead of the new season in Barcelona.