FIA Formula 1 Race Director Michael Masi has revealed that the ongoing title fight between Red Bull and Mercedes has led to a greater number of Technical Directives in 2021. A series of regulation tweaks over things such as pitstops and flexible wings have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, but according to Masi, the need for clarification is partly due to the competitiveness of the F1 field this season. "Obviously, with a number of areas going on, the battle at the front has certainly heated up a lot more than what we've seen in quite a while," Masi told RacingNews365 and other selected members of the media. "And, you know, the need for clarification or operational guidance and directives in certain areas, yes, it has increased, but I think that's also increased as a direct result of what's going on with the competitive order on track. "I wouldn't call it a governance mechanism. But certainly, it's a way to try and communicate with all the teams of the way certain regulations may look from an internal technical department perspective. And the clarity around those is that everyone always wants more clarity in certain areas." Additionally, Masi also gave his opinion on F1 TV's usage of the FIA-team boss radio messages - and whether it impacts what teams say across the airwaves. "I think to be fair, each sporting team [would utlise it] it's no different in F1, each team will utilize the radio, knowing that it's there. It's been there for many years, obviously, it's just broadcast now," Masi added. "If anything, now that the teams know that it's broadcast, it's probably reduced the radio traffic from race control. From the team's perspective, it's probably making them think twice."
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