"I can’t very well search for new race directors on Google or buy them on Amazon" - FIA president says qualified F1 race control personnel are hard to find

The FIA race control faced immense backlash for delaying the F1 Monaco Grand Prix for as long as they did last week. Now, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has claimed that F1 race directors in the future will need to be trained and equipped with sufficient experience in the sport.

As reported by PlanetF1, the Emirati stated that he cannot simply search for new replacements "on Google or buy them on Amazon". He said:

“It starts with my role. The federation needs to be broad enough to allow the sport to continue to grow without this being tied to any one person. We have a great many tasks ahead of us. Formula 1 alone is a huge challenge. The GP drivers have asked me to take care of the Race Control issue. But I can’t very well search for new race directors on Google or buy them on Amazon. Race directors have to be trained carefully and over years... The race directors of the future will be trained in Geneva. We achieve three goals at the same time – training, the current race stewards get more practice, and we have more experts on hand when there is an emergency.”

Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas have replaced Michael Masi this season as race directors after the controversial decisions made by the Australian at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

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FIA President claims Michael Masi could soon be employed in a different role in F1

It may not be the end of the road for former race director Michael Masi in F1. The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem had earlier revealed that there is a good chance of the Aussie returning in a separate role soon.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Ben Sulayem said:

“I didn’t get rid of Michael [Masi]. He had a personal overload (of work) - safety delegate as well as race director. He made a mistake. It is not as if we said it is the end of Masi with the FIA. I don’t do that sort of thing. Even people who didn’t vote for me, I embrace. We don’t think of individuals. We think of the operation itself. I don’t know Michael very well. The decision (to sack him as race director) was made by the World Council. It was human error on Michael’s part. I spoke to him two days ago. I have no personal issue (with him). I don’t hate anyone.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in particular are certainly not very happy about the prospects of Masi's return in any capacity.