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At the end of the 'AD2021' debacle, where Max Verstappen won the title against Lewis Hamilton under controversial circumstances, Michael Masi was relieved of his role as race director. The FIA and the FOM were quick to admit that the 2021 season could have been handled better and mistakes were made. With promises of working on things for the future, the sport entered a new, "post-Masi" era.
Just to highlight how bad the previous era was, one just has to look at the 2021 F1 season to see how deficient the FIA and the FOM were when it came to governing the sport and ensuring fairness. There were far too many instances almost every weekend of the governing body being under the spotlight and none of them were positive. There were serious questions about both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's on-track conduct either being punished unfairly or being left unpunished.
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It all came to a head at the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, now termed somewhat notoriously, "AD2021," where the race director made a call that was not only controversial but ended up deciding the course of the championship.
At the end of the season, what was obvious to the viewer was that the FIA and the FOM were not ready to govern and manage an intense title battle. In one of the first steps taken by the governing body in the aftermath, Michael Masi was given his marching orders and there were promises of changes to make things better.
We're in 2024 now, and for the first time since 2021, we have an intense battle on track for the championship. As soon as that has happened, one thing has become obvious: other than getting rid of Micahel Masi, nothing has changed with the FIA.
The adjudication of the incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris exposed one major flaw in a rule that was put in place after the 2021 rule. More than that, it exposed the very static nature of the sport in terms of lack of improvements.
After the 2021 F1 season, the litany of complaints included a lack of consistency in stewards decision-making, a lack of clarity in terms of what is allowed and what isn't, a level of distrust in the governing body, and finally, the sport being split down the middle in terms of fan discourse.
The aftermath of the F1 US GP in 2024 has been just the same, with one major conclusion drawn by almost everyone: nothing has changed since Michael Masi was fired in 2021.
The problem with the rules of engagement
First of all, let's talk about the outrage and why the rules of engagement raised a serious issue. To keep it as simple as possible, if the defending driver is on the inside, all he needs to make sure is to be ahead at the apex.
Even if it means he goes off-track, it won't be a penalty. In the F1 US GP, this rule was in play in the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The Red Bull driver made sure that he was ahead at the apex. There was no penalty for the driver for going off track in that case either, which meant that he could push his rival off-track with impunity.
This means that, according to the regulations, Verstappen didn't do anything wrong. However, like many fans, even former world champion Jenson Button was outraged at such a massive loophole in the regulations. Talking to Christian Horner, the former world champion pointed out that such a rule gives a major advantage to the driver who is defending his position.
Unfortunately, for now, these are the rules with which the stewards are forced to work.
The problem with the FIA, the teams, and F1's lack of clarity
While there has been a lot of criticism levied towards both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, one thing that should be kept in mind is that neither of them made the rules. What's even worse is that the lack of clarity regarding the rules of engagement among drivers and the teams stands out.
After the race, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was at odds to understand and explain how the Lando Norris-Max Verstappen incident was adjudicated. Indeed, Toto Wolff was quite blunt in his verdict, saying there was a certain level of bias when it came to decision-making in F1.
FIA has often been called out by the drivers, the team, and even the fans, for its inconsistency. The reality of the matter is that the entire adjudication is so complex that the fans, the teams, the drivers, and even the ones commenting on the sport have no clue regarding the rules at times.
The surprise from some of the experts showed how counterintuitive some of these rules are. A fan should not have to open the rulebook after the incident to understand what an apex is or where the car should be. These rules should help the stewards, but the outcome of these rules should feel natural to racing.
At this moment, looking at the overall outrage, it's safe to say that it's not.
Don't blame Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for this
The one thing in all of this however that needs to be kept in mind is that neither Max Verstappen nor Lando Norris are in any way at fault when it comes to something like this. What the two drivers are doing is battling under the rules they have in front of them.
In Austin, it was Verstappen who nailed his use of them to his advantage and came out on top. In the future, it could be some other driver. A quote that's often used seems apt in this case: "Don't hate the player, hate the game."
What has the FIA achieved in the last 3 years?
The biggest F1 scandal of this decade took place in 2021 when Michael Masi's decision changed the direction of the championship and led to Max Verstappen winning the title. At the time, Jean Todt was the FIA president, and by the end of the year, he would be replaced by Mohammad Ben Sulayem.
In 2021, the FIA came across as a governing body that had next to no control over how the sport was to be conducted. Some serious issues came up during that season, and race officiating was one of them. Mohammed Ben Sulayem was the new man on the job, and he was the man who was supposed to make the big changes.
In the last three years since Max Verstappen won the title on that fateful night in Abu Dhabi, you just don't see any noticeable change. For a short time, we had two race directors. Soon after, we were back to just one. The inconsistency in decision-making continues to be a concern even now, and nothing has changed when it comes to that facet.
To make things worse, the FIA has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. There was the entire "jewelry-gate" with Lewis Hamilton. Then Ben Sulayem invited potential applicants for an 11th team in a step that was in direct opposition to the FOM. Currently, we have Max Verstappen in a feud with the governing body over the manner in which the governing body has clamped down on inappropriate language in F1.
Amongst all of this, the key aspect, the one that matters the most, is officiating the sport, especially in contentious moments. Looking at how the Verstappen-Norris incident was officiated in Austin and how the sport is governed in general, it's safe to say that if we have an intense title battle next year, neither the FIA nor the sport looks ready to let it run without any controversy.
