BUDAPEST (HUNGARY), July 31 (dpa/EP) –
Former Formula 1 race director Michael Masi was subjected to social media abuse and even “death threats” after his decisions in the controversial 2021 season finale at the World Championship’s final race.
“There were some dark days,” Masi told News Corp on Sunday. “I felt that he was the most hated man in the world. I received death threats. People said they were going to persecute me and my family,” he revealed.
Masi confirmed that he received “shocking” messages on his Facebook account. “Racist, abusive, vile, they called me everything,” she recounted. “And they kept going. Not only on my Facebook, but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business. It was the same kind of abuse,” she lamented.
In the last race of the 2021 World Cup, with the title at stake between Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Masi allowed the doubled cars between the two rivals to be overtaken by the Dutchman after a safety car period by an accident of Nicholas Latifi (Williams), against the rules in force at the time.
This allowed Verstappen to overtake Hamilton and win his first World Cup. The FIA investigated and claimed that human error was the cause of what happened, although Masi had acted in good faith. The Australian was fired as race director. Since then, the world body has updated its regulations regarding safety cars, and restricted radio contact between teams and race directors.