Formula 1's hugely controversial conclusion to the 2021 season in the closing moments of the Abu Dhabi season finale seemingly affirmed the fate of its FIA race director Michael Masi. The Australian was center stage to the controversy, which resulted in a divisive victory for Max Verstappen who took his first ever Formula 1 championship victory.However, in a statement released during Ferrari's 2022 car launch, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced a raft of changes to the FIA's structure, including the removal of Masi from the race director role. In his place would be two new alternating race directors supported by a virtual control room.
Enlisted in Masi's place are the highly-experienced Eduardo Freitas and Neils Wittich, who will share the duty throughout Formula 1's lengthy calendar, with support from former deputy race director, to the late Charlie Whiting, Herbie Blash, as senior advisor.
Who Is Eduardo Freitas?
Former motorcycle mechanic Freitas became a marshal in the 1980s as a trainee, before becoming a chief post marshal, section marshal, general security marshal and later a marshal on Formula 1 testing at Estoril.
"I did everything that was available to do because I liked the sport," Freitas told the WEC Talk podcast. He then decided to act as race director on karting and national races after gaining valuable marshaling experience.
Offered the opportunity to be race director for the FIA GT and ETCC championships after the turn of the century, Freitas accepted and stayed in the position until 2010.
He was subsequently promoted to the FIA GT1 championship before switching to WEC for its inaugural championship in 2012.
He remains the cool, calm, and collected race director of the WEC to this day, as he is set to alternate his Formula 1 duties in tandem with the endurance series.
Freitas is pathological about safety, previously explaining how the race director “equation” retains a hierarchy of "safety, sporting regulations and then the show" - something many spectators questioned the legitimacy of in Abu Dhabi from then-race director Masi.
He is easily the most experienced FIA race director not currently associated with the Formula 1 weekend, with his masterful control over the often 60-car, multi-class, grid of an endurance race being a true test of decision-making skills under pressure.
The Portuguese, however, did have a small supporting part to play in the operations of the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, and previously contributed in FIA meetings held by Charlie Whiting.
Who Is Neils Wittich?
Throughout his 20-year tenure in motorsport as an official, Wittich has held a plethora of positions including race director and circuit inspector. He has, however, been a permanent race director for eight years, most notably in the DTM championship before stepping down in 2021 when the FIA enlisted him to support Masi on Grand Prix weekends as race director for Formula 2 and Formula 3 - relinquishing Masi of the roles in the support categories.
Wittich was set for a promotion to Formula 1 for 2022 in a full capacity alongside Masi anyway, but will now carry full responsibility at select Grands Prix, assisted by senior advisor Blash and the aforementioned off-site virtual control system.
The somewhat surprising, yet ironic, factor in Wittich's F1 appointment is the fact that he is also fighting to ward off a 2021 season finale. The last race of the DTM season saw Kelvin van der Linde aggressively collide with title rival Liam Lawson, costing Lawson the championship with an arguably gentle penalty handed to the former by Wittich.
Although controversial, it was nowhere near as contentious and infamous an issue as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix's conclusion. Both Freitas' and Wittich's supreme experience and records are definitely a positive and a crucial move in the right direction for the FIA during its restructuring phase of the F1 side of the organization.