Masi: 'People said they were going to come after me and my family'

Former race director Michael Masi has revealed that he received death threats online following his controversial decision at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Masi would not talk to anyone about the incident for months.

Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton last season in the very last race of the season. It looked like the Briton would take home the title, but in the closing stages of the race Verstappen managed to overtake his rival. That opportunity was given to him by Masi's decision to allow only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake under the safety car.

"There were some dark days. And absolutely, I felt like I was the most hated man in the world. I got death threats. People saying, they were going to come after me and my family", Masi tells News Corp, quoted by Reuters.

Masi continued to receive online messages

The FIA launched an official investigation into the events in Abu Dhabi. The report showed that Masi had made a human error. The Australian has since left the FIA permanently and returned to his home country, where he did not seek professional help in the aftermath of the incident. The former race director says he did not want to talk to anyone, not even his family.

"They were shocking", Masi says of messages he received on Facebook. "They called me every name under the sun. And they kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business."