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Former F1 race director Michael Masi has finally spoken up about his dreadful experience with abuse and death threats following the 2021 Abu Dhabi season finale fiasco. In an exclusive interview with News Corp Australia, the 44-year-old revealed details of the threats and their impact on his mental health.
Narrating his sojourn as a gist, the Australian said:
“There were some dark days. I still remember walking down the street in London a day or two later. I thought I was OK until I started looking over my shoulder. I was looking at people wondering if they were going to get me... I felt like I was the most hated man in the world. I got death threats, people saying they were going to come after me and my family. There were some dark days I still remember walking down the street in London a day or two later. I thought I was okay until I started looking over my shoulder. I was looking at people wondering if they were going to get me.”
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The aftermath of the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP finale that denied Lewis Hamilton his eighth title led to Michael Masi becoming the target of hatred, death threats, and abuse. In his first interview after the fateful event that cost him his job, the Australian revealed the vitriolic hatred he faced on his professional and personal social media accounts.
Vilified by the F1 base and openly termed racist by Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff portrayed the former race director as the antagonist in the controversy. While the Australian remained low-key, his final move to leave the FIA as an organization gave him the freedom to speak about his experience, which was downplayed severely by the sport and the motorsport fraternity.
Elaborating more on the social media messages and the experience, Masi said:
“Thankfully, I don’t have an Instagram account. Or Twitter. I don’t have any of that. Being old-school I do however have Facebook, which I used to stay in touch with family and friends. I opened my messages that night to check in with them. I had no idea that I could receive them from people I did not know. But I was wrong. I was confronted with hundreds of messages. I wouldn’t say thousands but certainly hundreds. And they were shocking. Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun. And they kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business. It was the same type of abuse.”
Michael Masi reveals mental and physical impact of 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi season finale saga
Revealing a loss of appetite and the mental impact the aftermath of the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP had on him, Michael Masi said that he cut off socially and reportedly returned to Australia to heal from the episode. He is also said to have visited Saudi Arabia for a track inspection as recently as January 2022, until the storm swirled around him and cost him his job the next month. Although he did not seek professional help, the former F1 race director admitted to downplaying the effects of the saga on him mentally.
Describing the initial effects of the saga on a personal level, Masi said:
“At first, I just thought I would ignore it and get on with it because I knew it could take me to a very dark place. I tried to cut myself off mentally, and I thought I could. I mostly kept it all to myself. I told a few people but not many. I didn’t want to concern my family and friends. I didn’t want them worrying too. The FIA (Masi’s employers) knew but I think I downplayed it all to everyone including them.”
Detailing the further impact on his mental and physical health, the Australian said:
“I didn't want to talk to anyone. Not even family and friends. I only talked to my close family but very briefly. I also lost my appetite. I have heard some people become binge eaters during times like this but I didn’t eat much. It did have a physical impact, but it was more mental. I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone, which was very challenging. It did have a physical impact, but it was more mental. I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone, which was very challenging.”
“The whole experience has made me a much stronger person. I didn’t go and talk to a professional. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have. But I think I downplayed it all to everyone including them. It took me a while to process it all. But at the end of the day, I thought it was best for me to come back home and be close to my support network.”
The former race director became the focus of the discussion coupled with hatred on social media and in the public domain, with a lack of sympathy or consideration shown towards him by F1 and an entire fraternity. Red Bull CEO Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem were the only few to mention the death threats Masi had received and swiftly condemned the situation. With F1 launching a campaign to battle social media abuse and fan hatred both on track and online at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, Masi’s case is a fine example of its effect.
