FIA single-seater race boss Peter Bayer admits that they are currently considering changes to the existing system, which means that the role of racing director, which has so far been performed by Michael Masi, could also be taken over by someone else.
After the controversial finale last season in Abu Dhabi, the FIA promised to investigate in detail the whole decision-making process and explain how it came about, all with the aim of making things clearer and more precisely defined in future situations.
Speaking to Austria’s Vorarlberger Nachrichten, Bayer said the FIA was considering changes to the existing system and that certain roles could be reassigned.
“We are considering the division of the various tasks of the racing director, who is also the sports director, safety and track director,” Bayer said.
“It simply came to our notice then. These roles will be assigned to several people, which will reduce the burden on the racing director. “
“Michael did a great job in a lot of ways, we told him, but there’s also the possibility that we’ll have a new racing director.”
One of the things that will change, as announced by the new FIA president Mohammed
Ben Sulayem, is that teams will no longer be able to lobby directly with the racing director and thus hinder him from making decisions during the race.
“Team managers still need to be able to ask questions, but we want to have an employee who will accept those demands so that the racing director can concentrate on his task.”
Bayer also commented on possible changes to the rules around late safety cars, which led to a controversial finale in Abu Dhabi.
“We asked the team if the desire for races not to end behind a safety car is still relevant, which everyone agreed with.”
