‘Lewis Hamilton did not deserve to lose the title,’ British journalist Joe Saward sympathizes with Lewis but believes Masi did nothing wrong in Abu Dhabi GP fiasco

‘Lewis Hamilton did not deserve to lose the title,’ British journalist Joe Saward sympathizes with Lewis but believes Masi did nothing wrong in Abu Dhabi GP fiasco

Joe Saward

Journalist Joe Saward has shared his thoughts on the F1 Commission that met in London on the 14th of February 2022. The Commission was sitting for the first time under the presidency of the new FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Sulayem assumed the presidentship on the 17th of December 2021, just five days after the controversial finale of the 2021 F1 season took place in Abu Dhabi.

Since then, the FIA president has been making moves to improve FIA’s reputation and solve the matter pertaining to the Abu Dhabi GP, which saw Max Verstappen becoming the F1 world champion. This month, in the WMSC meeting, the FIA president also announced some major reforms, including the introduction to improve the functioning of FIA.

Covering the F1 Commission meeting, in a blog, Joe Saward provided his opinion and inferences on what can be the course of action of FIA on several issues. The journalist believes that “Everyone feels for Lewis and what happened but some of the crusaders who are trying to mount witch-hunts against Masi need to understand – as the FIA Stewards in Abu Dhabi obviously did – that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with what the Race Director did, even if the result was patently unfair and Hamilton did not deserve to lose the race and thus the title,” quoted from his blog.

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So far, there has been a wave of fans and many prominent celebs, asking for Masi to be removed from his position as the race director. But there has also been some support for the Aussie official from many players and team principals.

It should be noted that FIA’s detailed analysis of Abu Dhabi GP is underway, and its findings so far were presented yesterday, and the conclusion of the report will be presented on March 18, 2022, after inputs from all the F1 drivers.

Joe Saward’s predictions on FIA and Michael Masi

FIA, Michael Masi
FIA, Michael Masi

The journalist had put out points along with reasoning. According to the journalist, it’s highly unlikely that FIA will ax Masi from his position as the race director. 

Joe reasoned this with, “as this would obviously be a sign of the FIA kowtowing to pressures from external forces, particularly as the FIA Stewards in Abu Dhabi rejected the Mercedes-Benz appeal and by doing so supported Masi’s actions, whether it was popular or not. They are the official referees of the sport, and thus the FIA wants them to be respected.”

“To remove Masi would be unwise and would create unhelpful precedents for the sport,” Joe added. 

It’s now just a waiting game for the F1 fans. Whether Masi will stay or leave, what will happen to the championship of 2021, these questions are likely to be answered soon.

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