F1 Managing Director Ross Brawn has revealed that going forward it will stop the communication that exists between the team bosses and the FIA representatives who oversee the races. This has happened in the light of what happened in the 2021 season when both the Red Bull and Mercedes team bosses repeatedly put pressure on FIA race director Michael Masi. Things came to a tipping point when Masi originally ruled that lapped cars wouldn't be allowed to unlap themselves, which triggered a desperate call from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, for Masi to tweak his decision, which resulted in a call from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Michael Masi was often cornered during the races across the season by the team bosses
"We will stop this contact next year," Brawn is quoted as saying by Auto Motor und Sport. "It's unacceptable that team bosses put Michael under such pressure during the race. It's like the coaches negotiating with the referee in football. Toto can't demand there shouldn't be a Safety Car and Christian can't demand the cars have to un-lap. That's at the discretion of the race director," said the former F1 technical director at Ferrari and the former team principal of the Mercedes F1 team.
The entire situation has been further accentuated by the fact the communications between the teams and the FIA are being broadcast for the first time which is adding to the drama on social media. Michael Masi, the FIA race director, has been in the position for 3 years where he was the deputy race director under the legendary Charlie Whiting. Charlie Whiting who passed away on the eve of the 2019 season had written most of the rules that govern the F1 races run by the FIA. Masi was promoted in the wake of Whiting's demise, but he still hasn't managed to assert himself on the teams the way Whiting had.
