Masi gets backup: "This is way too big a job for one person"

Charlie Whiting was the race director in Formula 1 for many years. The Briton, who died suddenly in 2019, did this for a long time together with Herbie Blash. Michael Masi was appointed as Whiting's replacement, but from the outset and does not have a sparring partner as his predecessor had. According to Martin Brundle, Masi should no longer be at the helm completely by himself.

Brundle is not so much concerned with Masi himself or his qualities, but rather with the bigger picture. He believes that Masi is actually facing a task that is far too big. For a whole year, the Australian has to manage everything himself. The 2021 season proves, according to the Sky Sports panel, that this is not a sustainable situation.

"What I absolutely know for sure, is that changing Michael Masi would not fix the problem," Brundle said firmly to his employer's channels. "This is way too big of a job for one person to handle in a 23 race season, it’s only going to grow." The F1 commentator suspects that the FIA is now looking for people to support Masi during the weekends.

FIA organisational structure

The first signs already seem to be becoming visible. Indeed, in the FIA's new organisational structure for 2022, Masi is already no longer the president of the single seaters division. Peter Bayer is the new man who will hold this position. Incidentally, it is also not certain whether Masi himself wants to continue as race director in Formula 1. He has of course had to endure a few things in the past month...

Meanwhile, not only Mercedes is said to have questioned some of Masi's choices, but other teams have also expressed their doubts over the course of 2021.