There needs to be clarity going forward.
The end to the world championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday has put the governing body of Formula 1 under scrutiny.
The sport's rules during the safety-car period that decided the drivers' title in Max Verstappen's favour has focused a deeper discontent that already existed beneath the surface of the sport.
The events at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix dismayed the F1 teams and drivers, who had complained about the consistency of the decisions made by the FIA.
Many felt the rules were not followed correctly, and now a number of F1 insiders believe that changes need to be made at the FIA.
Senior figures have not spoken on the record in the immediate aftermath of the race because of the controversial subject.
Many of the drivers have concerns and at least half the teams have lost confidence in race director Michael Masi, according to a number of people.
Why was Abu Dhabi so tense?
Masi is at the center of the controversy because he was the man who made the decisions at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and has been involved in other contentious moments through the past year or so.
The main concern is whether Masi followed the rules in the operation of the safety car and the restart of the race.
Two areas are the focus of concern.
The five cars that Hamilton and Verstappen were in were allowed to overtake, but not the others.
The end of the safety-car period.
The questions and the decision of the stewards to reject Mercedes' protest against Masi's decisions are dealt with in detail in this article.
The concern is that controversial decisions had a direct influence on the outcome of the championship.
It's important to point out that the questions within F1 are not about who should or shouldn't be world champion. They are concerned about fair competition.
The title battle was decided on the last lap of the race.
Is there a problem with the stewards' decision?
Masi's operational calls in Abu Dhabi and the stewards' decision to defend them raises more questions in the context of a year in which consistency of rule application has been a hot topic.
There was a safety-car period during the Eifel Grand Prix in 2020. Both Hamilton and Verstappen were unhappy with the length of it.
After the race, Masi was asked about this. He said that there was a requirement to wave all the cars past.
He followed one course of action with regards to lapped cars in Germany last year, and another in Abu Dhabi.
Michael Masi has been the race director for the past two seasons.
What other problems have they had?
The entire season has been filled with questions over the consistency of penalty application and decision making.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen was not punished for forcing Hamilton off the track as he tried to pass him for the lead.
Many drivers felt the move should have earned him a penalty.
McLaren's Lando Norris, who had been punished in a similar situation in a fight with Red Bull's Sergio Perez in Austria earlier in the year, was among them.
The drivers talked to Masi and the stewards about what was allowed in wheel-to-wheel racing. The situation was not clear after the meeting. They were told that forcing a driver off the track wasn't allowed but that it was up to the stewards' panels at each race.
Verstappen was given a five-second penalty in the Saudi Arabia race after he pulled an almost identical move on Hamilton. He entered the final race of the season complaining that he was treated differently from other drivers, saying that it was fair for everyone. That's not the case.
Regardless of the debate over Verstappen's aggressive driving, and whether he was right in the specific incidents he was referring to, his underlying point reflected the concerns of many drivers.
Masi's future and deeper issues.
F1's reputation as a responsible and effectively governed sport is at stake because of the bright spotlight on Abu Dhabi, where the title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen was taking place.
Liberty Media's bottom line is at stake, as well as the image of the FIA. While some investors will be attracted by F1's huge global impact in the past week, others will have questions about whether a sport run in such a way is a sensible place to invest their money.
It only takes a glance at the eruption over this topic on social media to see that there were questions about whether the decisions were made with a view to provide entertainment.
Wolff is the Mercedes team principal.
The impression was not diminished by Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, who admitted that F1 bosses had discussed trying to ensure races did not end under safety-car conditions.
The European Commission made an agreement with the sport's governing body, the FIA, more than 20 years ago that requires them to be independent of each other.
The Belgian Grand Prix was called off and half-points were awarded after hours of delay caused by bad weather, but this was a question raised after the controversy.
It would have been unfortunate if Abu Dhabi had been the first controversial decision of Masi's tenure.
In the last two years, many have said that Masi may struggle to survive in Abu Dhabi.
Is it all Masi's fault?
Some will not mourn him if he goes. Others say that Masi is not helped by the lack of structure around him, and that he is trying hard to do his best in a difficult job.
He is isolated in race control and not given adequate support.
He's too easily accessed by the team principals on the radio, others claim, leading to some of the conversations between him and Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull's Christian Horner in Abu Dhabi.
The broadcasting of these conversations has raised more questions as to whether Masi's decisions are being influenced by teams.
The teams believe that the response to contentious issues could have been better.
The row over flexible rear wings in the first half of the season was a technical issue and therefore the responsibility of the head of single-seater matters is not Masi.
Red Bull and other teams had designs that leaned backwards on the straights to reduce drag.
The wings in question passed all the relevant load tests, despite the fact that they are not allowed by the rule.
The teams were given a number of races' grace to allow them time to modify their designs after the new, stricter tests were introduced by the FIA. This was much to the frustration of the teams who highlighted the problem. They felt that action should have been taken much sooner, and that there was no need for a lengthy delay in resolving the issue.
What is happening with this?
It seems that the FIA was aware of some issues it needed to address.
The appointment of Peter Bayer, the secretary general for motorsport, to a newly established position of executive director of F1, will be announced this week by the organisation. He will be in charge of Masi, Tombazis and other staff.
The role of the late Charlie Whiting, the former director of F1, who died on the eve of the season, is being re-examined.
Being race director was part of Whiting's responsibilities, and people have wrongly assumed that Masi is his replacement. He's not. Masi was appointed to fill a part of the job. The rest of the job of keeping F1 running on an even keel had not been replaced until now.
The running of F1 and the rules themselves have not been made public, but the FIA would not comment on whether it was conducting an internal inquiry into the controversy of Abu Dhabi.
A spokesman said that it does not exist to satisfy the F1 teams, and that every decision it makes in the sport is likely to be unpopular.
He said that their role is to be fair and transparent.
The F1 teams would agree on that. It's not necessarily on whether the FIA has been successful.
There is an upcoming election.
The election of a new president of the FIA is taking place on Friday, after the organisation's annual prize-giving ceremony on Thursday.
Englishman Graham Stoker is one of the candidates. The election is said to be too close to call, and they have been trying to drum up support among the member clubs around the world.
Jean Todt and his predecessor Max Mosley proved that the FIA is more than just a sport organization.
F1 is the poster child of the FIA. Whoever wins the election will have a lot of these issues at the top of their agenda.
