FIA has recently sacked Michael Masi from the race director’s post. The former FIA Race Director had to undergo massive criticism and was subjected to online hate after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Amid this, Masi’s friend Eugene Arocca supported his fellow countryman in his statements.

FIA has decided to sack Michael after a meeting organized by the governing body on February 14. The meeting was held in presence of team bosses of all teams. However, Arocca believes Masi has done enough as the race director and made a strong call in the tough times.

During an interview with Speedcafe.com, Eugene Arocca said, “So it’s personally disappointing and devastating for me to see what has occurred. I’ve got to be very mindful that I’m not part of a process, I wasn’t privy to the information that was being considered by the FIA, but on a personal level, if you see a mate, and particularly an Australian, have to go through what he’s gone through, I’ve got a certain amount of empathy and disappointment and frustration and anger.”

Masi had to go through a phase after the Abu Dhabi GP. From dealing with his personal life to facing criticism on an everyday basis, life was tough for the Australian.

In regard to this, Eugene further stated, “I can’t speak on his behalf, but I would say that one of the more difficult elements of all this, let’s call it this incident, happened late last year, some three months ago now, and to a large degree it’s been a process that hasn’t leant itself to really being in a good frame of mind. It’s been a tortuous two or three months of discussion, debate, criticism, public airing of view.”

Read More: Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Reacts to Michael Masi F1 Exit

What exactly happened at F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

Lewis Hamilton was leading the Grand Prix from Max Verstappen. However, towards the end of the race, Nicholas Latifi of Williams crashed against the barrier. This brought out the safety car. Seeing the right opportunity, Verstappen pitted for soft tires. However, Lewis was on his hard old tires and couldn’t pit as he would have lost track position to Verstappen. Furthermore, before restarting the race, Masi ordered the lapped cars (between Hamilton and Verstappen) to unlap themselves.

As the race resumed, Verstappen, having the faster fresher tires, managed to take over Lewis, who was leading the whole race. This made fans complain that Masi helped Max Verstappen snatch the title away from Hamilton.

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Putting those allegations aside, many experts are of the opinion that Masi played a wrong card by letting the lapped cars go and calling in the safety car in the same lap. All in all, Eugene Arocca has expressed his desire to see his friend Michael Masi in Motorsport Australia.

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