Masi came under fire for the way he handled the closing stages of the 2021 season finale, where he ended the safety car period just in time to enable a final-lap showdown between title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. It allowed Red Bull driver Verstappen, who was on fresher tyres, to make a last-gasp pass on Mercedes rival Hamilton for the lead and with it clinch his maiden drivers' crown.
The critics felt Masi had not followed the rules in Abu Dhabi on two counts, having neither allowed all lapped cars to unlap themselves nor left enough of a gap until the restart. The FIA conducted an investigation into his handling of the race and concluded that he had acted in 'good faith', even if there was a 'human error' on his part in not letting all lapped cars rejoin the back of the fiel