Former F1 driver Christijan Albers labelled F1 Race Director Michael Masi as incompetent, saying that he was abysmal throughout the 2021 season.
Masi played a starring role in the F1 season finale at Abu Dhabi, and not in a good way. His controversial call on the final lap of the race ended up costing the race leader the race and the world championship.
Given the FIA’s general incompetence throughout the season, the Australian was only part of the problem. Nevertheless, he became the main culprit thanks to what happened at Yas Marine.
However, Albers labelled Masi as incompetent, saying that he failed to do his job properly at multiple points throughout the season.
“Masi seemed a bit insecure during some races,” he told De Telegraaf.
“I also thought he sometimes made confused decisions. But now the emphasis is on that last round in Abu Dhabi.
“He played a decisive role there. And you don’t want that, because you want the championship to be decided in a beautiful and fair way. So I understand that Mercedes and Hamilton feel robbed.”
A complete farce
“Let’s be honest, if it had been the other way around, Red Bull or another team would probably have taken the same attitude,” Albers weighed in.
“Wasn’t it Red Bull team boss Christian Horner who had left after the penultimate race in Jeddah was still moaning and strongly criticising Masi?”
“In Abu Dhabi, in my view, Masi made a mistake by only allowing the five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves. Then you can of course say: it is about the championship, but it is not consistent.
“So the FIA will have to investigate not just that final round in Abu Dhabi, but that whole accumulation of inconsistency throughout the season,” he concluded.