FIA race director Masi ‘doing a sensational job’, says Seidl

McLaren F1 boss Andreas Seidl admits he’s impressed with FIA race director Michael Masi, insisting the man who followed in the footsteps of Charlie Whiting is doing “a sensational job”.

Masi unexpectedly took over the role of F1 race director in Melbourne at the start of the season after Whiting’s untimely passing.

Feeling the shoes of a man who had been F1’s resident and unanimously appreciated race director for over twenty years was a tall order, but the Aussie is slowly but surely establishing his authority.

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“I think they’re doing a great job,” Seidl said, quoted by RACER.

“The race director, considering he’s new in this job, he’s doing a sensational job to be honest. Also the way how he communicates with the team and is open to input, Michael is very, very good.

“Also in the decisions the stewards have done, consistency is important. I think consistency was there.

“There will always be decisions that are controversial but to be honest I don’t see anything to complain about here really.”

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At Monza last time out, the stewards’ decision to put Charles Leclerc on notice following his defensive move on Lewis Hamilton rather than directly hit the Ferrari driver with a penalty was one controversial call.

But Seidl fully supports Masi’s revived use of the black-and-white flag, or F1’s equivalent of football’s ‘yellow card’.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Seidl said. “It’s a follow-up of the open discussion that happened between the race director, the teams and the FIA.

Seidl also alluded to the “farcical” events that took place during qualifying at Monza when all but two drivers failed to start their final flying laps in time, after being held up on their out laps seeking a tow from cars ahead.

Masi is due to meet with team principals in Singapore this week to address the issue that occurred in Q3 in Italy and discuss what can be done to prevent a recurrence in the future.

“I think there is a lot of common sense in the discussions we’re having between the teams,” said the German.

“No one was happy with what happened, I think it should be possible to find a fair solution.

“Let’s find some discussions and guidelines, hopefully we can avoid it in the future.”