Amid much controversy over the FIA ‘s decisions over the course of the entire 2021 Formula 1 season, the governing body has been forced to defend its position on many more occasions than expected.
And Mercedes, in particular, has been especially harsh in claiming that what happened in Abu Dhabi with F1 race director Michael Masi ‘s decisions was one of the biggest failures of consistent application of the rules.
Mercedes director Toto Wolff said: “I would have wished for more consistent decision-making which could have prevented many of the controversies we’ve had throughout the year. But the last one was a decision that had the biggest impact and since sporting perspective, it was catastrophic, because it decided the world championship.
During the season Red Bull team principal Christian Horner could also be seen saying that the sport missed the late F1 racing director Charlie Whiting , as he claimed some conversations with Masi felt “meaningless” to times.
But Jean Todt , who is stepping down after 12 years in charge of the FIA , has conceded that Formula 1 should consider the way other sports approach zero tolerance for any decision.
In particular, he cited the 10-match ban imposed on Olympique de Lyon football club president Jean-Michel Aulas for threatening a referee after attempting to restart the match.
Todt said: “I was reading today in the French sports magazine L’Equipe , that the president of Lyon, which is one of the biggest teams, has been suspended for 10 games because he spoke badly about the referee. So maybe we have been Too permissive, you know.”
While Todt accepts that F1 has always operated in a way that ensures the involvement of the teams, the FIA and the commercial rights holder, he believes there is a line that needs to be drawn on what behavior is and is not acceptable .
“I think it’s important to have a dialogue between the governing body, the teams, the drivers and the commercial rights holders. But it shouldn’t work against us.”
“In the heat of battle, I mean, everyone has their own feelings. But on the other hand, we have the race director, the stewards and the whole organization. And are we perfect? No.”
As a result of the controversy over the safety car restart at the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina, Todt has proposed that the FIA set up a commission to investigate everything that happened and see what improvements can be made to the rules ahead of the future.
