The only 'structural change' FIA are making is sacrificing Michael Masi...

The FIA has taken over two months to conduct a comprehensive investigation into how the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix came to an end on December 12. They announced that they would come up with structural changes and that is what happened this Thursday. However, we are not at all blown away by the changes the FIA wants to do. In fact, we knew all along that some changes would be made.

What changes are being made?

In eight weeks, the FIA has arrived at no fewer than four "structural" changes:

- Michael Masi will be replaced by Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.
- No direct radio contact with the race director will be possible from 2022 onwards.
- The procedure of unlapping from behind safety will be reviewed.
- There will be a kind of 'VAR' in Formula 1.

One measure is more drastic than the other, but to what extent will Formula 1 really benefit directly from this? Another question, should anything really be better in the premier class of motorsport? In my opinion, we have had one of the greatest F1 years ever and the situation of what happened at the Yas Marina Circuit is being incredibly magnified. Of course, it had great consequences. And if you want to come up with structural changes if necessary, I would expect something more than this.

Departure of Masi and the arrival of VAR

The change that makes the most impression is the departure of Masi. However, the Australian acted in the spirit of the race and had the support of several Formula One drivers last week. However, the FIA (with the agreement of a majority of the teams) has decided to put Masi aside and go into the new season with two race directors. We wanted even more consistency, didn't we? I have my doubts that this will make things better. I can't help feeling that the FIA has succumbed to the pressure exerted by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.

To ensure consistency, the race director will have access to a VAR system in 2022. Sounds like a very nice idea, but there is really no more to be seen on that footage than the footage Wittich or Freitas have at their disposal. Masi could also just playback incidents last season slowed down and as many times as he wanted. In other words, the new match officials get help from a kind of assistant.

It's nice in a way, of course, because the sporting code counts hundreds of pages, but it's really just for consultation. You don't need VAR for that, you know. Masi could have worked with the new VAR referees just as well, and besides, it's not like Wittich or Freitas are much more skilled or have much more knowledge.

No more direct radio contact

Well, hooray. Everyone actually agreed on this on the Sunday itself in Abu Dhabi. You don't have to be a top FIA official to do that. Every team boss already spoke out against it and Ross Brawn announced at the end of December that it would no longer be a possibility from 2022 onwards. Teams can continue to ask questions of the race director, but this will go according to a certain procedure in the future. There was no need to think about this for eight weeks.

Finally, the changes that the FIA wants to implement also show that the rules regarding the safety car will have to change. The current rules will be 're-evaluated'. This also implies that it was not Masi's fault that he let some of the stragglers pass and not all of the lapped cars. Was there room for interpretation?

F1 in 2022

In my view, the package of measures is particularly weak. It is all a bit for show and to keep big Mercedes happy because doing nothing was not an option. Somehow it is also good that the structural changes do not really mean anything, because there is no reason to start changing things on a grand scale.

The only thing that will really change in 2022 is that Masi is no longer in the chair of the race director. Presumably, he will be given a different role within the organisation, but my advice to Michael: let the FIA sink. They never took it up for you either...

This article was originally written by Corwin Kunst for the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.