Max Verstappen and Lando Norris(foreground) on the track during the United States Grand Prix - Source: Getty
At the end of the 'AD2021' debacle, where Max Verstappen won the title against Lewis Hamilton under controversial circumstances, Michael Masi was relieved of his role as race director. The FIA and the FOM were quick to admit that the 2021 season could have been handled better and mistakes were made. With promises of working on things for the future, the sport entered a new, "post-Masi" era.
Just to highlight how bad the previous era was, one just has to look at the 2021 F1 season to see how deficient the FIA and the FOM were when it came to governing the sport and ensuring fairness. There were far too many instances almost every weekend of the governing body being under the spotlight and none of them were positive. There were serious questions about both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's on-track conduct either being punished unfairly or being left unpunished.
