FIA and WMSC announce Abu Dhabi F1 GP findings, claim Michael Masi was 'acting in good faith’

The FIA presented the report of the Abu Dhabi F1 GP findings and analysis to the World Motorsport Council, ahead of the 2022 Bahrain GP. As per the report, the Abu Dhabi race results and World Championship standings remain unchanged. The regulatory body also acknowledged that F1 Race Director Michael Masi was acting in ’good faith', despite the pressure applied to him by the teams.

Announcing the decision at the WMSC meeting, the FIA statement said:

“As part of the exercise, the Formula 1 Sporting Advisory Committee was instructed to consider the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations and key stakeholders were interviewed and consulted, including the Teams and Drivers, the Race Direction team, and the FIA staff supporting the race management team.”

According to the FIA statement, a detailed report of the findings from the Abu Dhabi GP was presented to the World Motorsport Council and the conclusions and decisions were taken accordingly. The report has been published on the official website of the regulatory body in detail.

The report states that a "human error" cost Lewis Hamilton his championship due to the manual nature of the F1 Safety Car procedures. Without blaming the Race Director, the FIA stated that Michael Masi acted in good faith despite the time constraints involved and the pressure by teams to finish the race under green lights.

Highlighting the F1 Race Director’s role in the events that unfolded in Abu Dhabi, the FIA statement said:

“In combination with the objective to finish under green flag racing conditions applied throughout the 2021 season, the report finds that the Race Director was acting in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances, particularly acknowledging the significant time constraints for decisions to be made and the immense pressure being applied by the teams.”

The FIA has also stated that the Abu Dhabi results remain unchanged as Mercedes dropped their appeal to challenge it in the International Court of Appeal. Therefore, the results of the race and the 2021 F1 championship remain the same as there is no other procedure for amending the race result.

Explaining the Abu Dhabi GP results, the FIA said:

“The results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed. In accordance with the rules, Mercedes made a protest to the stewards after the race, seeking to change the race classification. The stewards dismissed the protest and Mercedes then had an opportunity to appeal that decision to the FIA International Court of Appeal, but did not do so. There are no other available mechanisms in the rules for amending the race classification.”

---

FIA will be reviewing F1 Safety Car procedures as a result of Abu Dhabi GP debacle

As a result of the chaos that ensued at the Abu Dhabi GP, the WMSC and FIA have unanimously decided to review the lapping procedures under the F1 Safety Car. The statement states that the existing procedure can be misinterpreted and carries a risk of human error and henceforth shall be automated by software.

Referring to the lapping procedures during the Safety Car period, the FIA said:

“The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one and human error lead to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. Due to the fact that manual interventions generally carry a higher risk of human error, software has been developed that will, from now on, automate the communication of the list of cars that must un-lap themselves. In addition, the 2022 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations have been recently updated to clarify that “all” and not “any” cars must be permitted to un-lap themselves.”

A detailed report published on the FIA website also concluded that the pressure applied on the F1 Race Director by Red Bull and Mercedes had a negative impact on the proceedings during the race.