Masi has been criticized for his decision to only allow the cars that separated F1 title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in order to overturn and organize a shootout on the final lap to determine the outcome of the world championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix .
Verstappen, who pitted under the safety car for fresh soft tires, overtook Hamilton on the final lap of the final race of the season, claiming both victory and his first world title.
Mercedes protested the result on the grounds that Masi had not followed the standard safety car restart procedure before the team decided to withdraw from an appeal four days after the season finale.
Hamilton has been silent since his interview after the race at Parc Ferme, but according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff he was “disillusioned” after he was “robbed” of a record-breaking eighth world championship title.
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Ferrari boss Binotto has jumped to the defense of the FIA and describes Masi as “the most difficult job in the world”.
“Whatever happened in Abu Dhabi, I think whatever decision he would have made, someone who is going to be happy, someone will be unhappy,” Binotto told the media at Ferrari’s Christmas press conference.
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“I think his job in Abu Dhabi was definitely the toughest job in the world at the time.
“If anything, it is important to have learned lessons. I think that will happen in the F1 Commission, where all events and situations will be discussed and it will be determined whether there is still room for improvement in the future.
“That is the mandate of the World Council, which is the most important.
“And as a Ferrari, [we] are very happy to sit down with all the other team principles, the FIA, F1, to discuss whether something could have been done differently.
“But I still think it would be wrong to judge the decisions from my side, because I think it was another very difficult decision.
“It seems that there are good reasons why they did it this way, maybe something else could have been done. Again difficult to judge. “
