March 19, (THEWILL) – The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), has determined that the controversy surrounding the 2021 Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi was caused by “human error”, but that the results are “valid’.”
THEWILL recalls that following the probe over the incident, race director Michael Masi resigned, giving Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the opportunity to challenge Lewis Hamilton with one lap remaining.
The FIA stated that Masi had “called the safety car back into the pit lane, without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (Article 48.12)” implying that he had broken the rules regulating the late presence of the safety car.
“The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one and human error lead to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves”, the FIA added.
This allowed Verstappen to win the Grand Prix and earn enough points to win his maiden world title, while denying Hamilton a record-breaking eighth.
Following the race, it appeared that Masi had misinterpreted the regulations governing a safety car restart, prompting claims from fans that the decision had been made to artificially heighten the drama of the season’s finish.
Masi was reported to have behaved in ‘good faith’ when making his decisions, according to the study, which was issued on Saturday.
Despite the fact that the inquiry concluded that the judgement was made in error, the results – and hence the championship standings from the previous season – will stand.
According to the statement: “The report finds that the race director was acting in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances, particularly acknowledging the significant time constraints for decisions to be made and the immense pressure being applied by the teams.
“The results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed.”
However, the FIA is making changes to prevent a recurrence. So far, these are the steps taken:
• Information and communication on which cars need to un-lap themselves will be handled by computer
• A VAR-like remote operations centre at FIA headquarters in Geneva will be established
• Direct communication between race director and teams is to be ended
• Un-lapping procedures to be further reviewed
Two race directors – Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas – will alternate, and will be assisted by Herbie Blash, a former deputy race director.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
