Michael Masi discusses the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 and the death threats received

The Australian responsible for the most controversial decision in Formula 1 history has revisited this episode for News Corp. The former race director reveals that he received death threats and was afraid for his life after Lewis Hamilton lost the World Championship title in Abu Dhabi.

Michael Masi broke a seven-month-long silence to recount what he went through after that decision that changed the course of his life. A decision that ended Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of winning his eighth world championship title.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, an Australian newspaper, Michael Masi admitted that he was afraid to walk on the street after receiving death threats and hateful messages.

Raised by his grandmother in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney, the Australian who had landed his dream job became the most hated man in the world when he made a decision penalizing Lewis Hamilton last December.

« There have been dark days. And of course, I felt like the most hated man in the world. I received death threats. People said they were going to harm me and my family. » declared Masi. « I was walking the streets of London, one or two days later. I thought everything was fine until I looked around me. I stared at people wondering if they were going to attack me. »

Arriving at the final race of the 2021 season, which was the most anticipated finale in Formula 1 history, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both tied in points, the future of Michael Masi seemed bright… Until the 51st lap.

The decision.

The director of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, was putting on his helmet and shouting: “No Michael. No Michael. No. This is not fair. Michael… What was that?”

Toto Wolff’s driver, Lewis Hamilton, had just lost the world championship title after what became the most controversial decision in the history of the sport. It all started on the 51st lap when Nicholas Latifi lost control of his car.

Masi called the safety car, as he was supposed to. And seven laps later, when the track was clear, he restarted the race, as he was also supposed to. But Masi also allowed the five lapped cars between the leader, Lewis Hamilton, and the second place, Max Verstappen, to regain their lap.

The removal of cars between the British and Dutch drivers, who had fresher tires after passing through the pit lane under the safety car period, inevitably allowed Verstappen to chase Hamilton before overtaking him to claim his first world championship title.

The conversation between Toto Wolff and Michael Masi was broadcasted in front of 108 million people. “Toto, that’s what we call motor racing,” replied Masi over the radio. “We are involved in motor racing.”

Masi knew that his decision would be questioned, but he couldn’t imagine what would follow, namely the onset of death threats and the loss of the job he had dreamt of when he was younger.

Death threats

Masi picked up his phone later that night. Aware of Toto Wolff and Mercedes’ actions asking for him to be held accountable, Masi wanted to call his family to let them know that he was fine.

« Fortunately, I don’t have an Instagram account,” Masi said. « Or even Twitter. I don’t have any of that. I’m old school. However, I do have a Facebook account that I use to stay in touch with family and friends. That night, I opened my messages. I didn’t think it was possible to receive messages from people I didn’t even know existed. I was wrong. I was confronted with hundreds, I won’t say thousands, but hundreds of messages.”

And it was shocking. Racist, abusive, abominable messages. They called me every name in the book. And there were death threats. People were saying they would harm my family and me. And it kept going. Not only on Facebook, but also on LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform. It was the same type of abuse.

Masi tried to ignore these messages. He stopped reading them and tried to push them out of his mind. « At first, I just thought I could ignore them and move on, because I knew it could really affect me mentally. I tried to disconnect myself from it mentally, and I thought I could do it. »

« I kept almost everything to myself. » Masi adds. « I talked about it to a few people, but really not many. I didn’t want to worry my family and friends. The FIA employees were aware, but I think I downplayed the extent to which it was affecting everyone, including them. »

His suspension and a fresh start.

Masi returned to work in January 2022. He traveled to Saudi Arabia to inspect a circuit and did his best to ignore the storm he was in. He was suspended by the FIA on February 16th after a meeting in Geneva.

But then Masi found Australia again and started fighting for his mental health. “I didn’t want to talk to anyone,” Masi adds. “Not even to my family or friends. I only spoke to my immediate family, but very briefly. I lost my appetite. I heard that some people become good eaters in those moments, but I ate very little. It had a physical impact, of course, but it was mostly psychological. I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to anyone. I wanted to be alone, and it was very difficult.”

I took some time to realize. But in the end, I think it was the best decision for me. Going back home and being close to the people who supported me. I didn’t go see a psychologist. But looking back, maybe I should have. I should have gone and talked about it. But I had incredible people around me who saw how I was doing and checked in on me daily. I was really lucky to be able to rely on my surroundings.

Masi cannot talk about the decision made in Abu Dhabi due to a confidentiality clause he has with the FIA, but he can talk about his future.

All this experience has made me much stronger. I had the longest period of rest in my entire career. And I used it to get closer to my family and friends. I also focused on myself.

(I) I have a lot of exciting options for the future. I’m considering different offers, different projects, whether it’s in Australia or abroad. I intend to stay abroad (outside of Australia) and use the skills that I’ve acquired during this wonderful adventure, of which I am extremely proud.