Michael Masi committed a “human error” in allowing only certain cars to unlap themselves at the end of last season’s Abu Dhabi finale. But Formula 1’s now-sacked race director was “acting in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances”, according to a summary of a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain on Saturday. 

Masi was the man responsible for the series of calls made during a late safety car period in Abu Dhabi. 

Mercedes were furious after the Australian controversially brought the safety car in with one lap remaining, when the rules suggested it ought to have stayed out one lap longer. He then allowed only the cars between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and race leader Lewis Hamilton to unlap themselves, in an effort to get the race back under way as quickly as possible.

Those calls allowed Verstappen, on fresh tyres, to pass Hamilton, on worn tyres, on the final lap, to claim the race win and his maiden drivers’ title.

Masi has since lost his job but there was huge public interest in the FIA’s report, with some suggesting the race must have been manipulated to create a more exciting finish.

The report ruled that out, with the WMSC satisfied that Masi “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 WMSC did state, though, that Masi had made a “human error” in allowing only certain cars to unlap themselves. “The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one and human error led to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves,” read the summary. “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.”

On the issue of the safety car coming in one lap early, meanwhile, the WMSC said there were “different interpretations” possible of the FIA’s sporting regulations “and that this likely contributed to the applied procedure”. 

The summary added: “The results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described himself as satisfied with the findings. “They (FIA) have been very transparent in making [the report] public,” he told Sky Sports. “It says human error. Now we need to close the chapter. It’s the 2022 championship and it’s full on.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, said he had not read the report and wanted to look forward now. “I wasn’t expecting an apology. But the fact that there’s transparency, and they admitted human error, is a positive.”

Analysis: Unwhelming and unsatisfactory – the FIA report leaves no one happy

It has taken nearly 100 days for the FIA to deliver its investigation into Abu Dhabi. 100 days, during which time Mercedes threatened to walk away from the sport, Lewis Hamilton went completely to ground (leading to speculation that he might walk away from the sport), Formula 1’s race director was sacked, and a million conspiracy theories flew around the internet. 

Quite why the FIA needed to take this long – finally delivering it two hours before qualifying at the first race of the following season – is unclear. But to say the final results are underwhelming would be a gross understatement.

The truth is this report will do little to satisfy anyone. The word ‘whitewash’ is likely to be bandied about, particularly by fans of Mercedes. And while that might be overstating it, at the very least it is reasonable to suggest, what with the FIA investigating its own employee’s “error”, that there is an element of marking its own homework at play here; that motorsport’s governing body has tried to deliver a report which will own up to just enough “human error” to pacify irate fans, just enough tightening up of its structures and processes to suggest it has acted, while not going so far as to admit gross failure or anything which would force it to review the result. There is certainly no apology to Hamilton or Mercedes. 

As a result, no one will be happy. Those who felt a huge miscarriage of sporting justice was perpetrated in Abi Dhabi will not be satisfied. And those who felt that Verstappen was a deserving champion will be similarly nonplussed, given the admission that the lapped car rules were incorrectly applied in Abu Dhabi, thereby giving fuel to those who want an asterisk placed next to Verstappen’s name in the record books.

Abu Dhabi left a sour taste in the mouth at the end of an incredible season. 100 days on, it is not tasting a whole lot sweeter.