FIA: Race leader Masi made ‘human error’ in final race

Race director Michael Masi made a ‘human error’ during last year’s Formula 1 final race in Abu Dhabi, but acted ‘to the best of his knowledge and in good faith’. The result of the world championship has been declared definitive.

These are the conclusions of the research report of the international motorsport federation FIA into the controversial denouement of the championship. It is the race in which Max Verstappen won the world title by overtaking and dethroning Lewis Hamilton on the very last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Masi gave his own interpretation of the sporting rules, according to the researchers and wanted the race not to end behind the safety car. He ordered five cars that had been lapped by race leader Hamilton to overtake the safety car and thus ‘unlap’. This way he was able to give Hamilton and Verstappen one more lap to race.

The Australian race director acted in violation of the rules, because he should have sent all drivers who were lap behind past the safety car. Masi was able to make that mistake, according to the FIA, because the number of cars put on a lap was manually tracked. It was therefore a human error.