The FIA have confirmed that a decision regarding the potential sacking of race director Michael Masi has yet to be made.
Masi's future is under plenty of scrutiny following his controversial safety car ruling at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which subsequently led to Max Verstappen's dramatic last-gasp title win over Lewis Hamilton.
Reports have claimed that the FIA are now developing a new race-management structure, while it has also been said that constructors have been spoken to over whether a new race director should be introduced.
A review regarding the events that transpired at the Yas Marina Circuit last month is now ongoing - with Mercedes reportedly pushing for under-fire Masi to be dismissed.
But it appears that Mercedes and Hamilton will be waiting a fair while longer to hear what will happen with Masi with findings from their investigation still being undertaken.
An FIA statement read: “At this stage, no decision has been taken on the outcome of the detailed analysis currently underway into the events of the last Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“As previously announced, the findings of this detailed analysis will be presented at the F1 Commission meeting in London on 14th February after an open discussion with all F1 drivers and then finally have to be approved at the World Motor Sport Council meeting on 18th March in Bahrain, under the authority of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.”
The statement has come after the FIA's head of single-seaters, Peter Bayer, told BBC Sport that there is a chance a new race director could be in the hotseat when the season begins in March.
Recent reports have suggested that Hamilton is said to be waiting until the review is finished before deciding whether or not to continue racing.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that Hamilton was left "disillusioned" with F1 following the end to the 2021 season, and BBC Sport also reported that one senior source said Mercedes only dropped their Abu Dhabi appeal on the basis that Masi would be sacked.
It's understood Mercedes also called for Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's head of single-seater technical matters, to be relieved of his duties before the 2022 season gets underway.
Hamilton was cruising to an unprecedented eighth world title at last month’s Abu Dhabi GP, having led Red Bull title rival Verstappen by 11 seconds going into the remaining laps.
But a late Nicholas Latifi crash dramatically changed the landscape of the race and the title battle.
The safety car was brought onto the track and Verstappen opted for a change in tyres.
FIA race director Masi initially instructed that lapped cars could not overtake the safety vehicle until it left the track, meaning there would not have been time for Verstappen to get behind his rival.
However, Masi later controversially changed his mind, allowing the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves before ordering the safety car off the track.
Therefore, the Dutchman could get on the British driver's tail before overtaking him in a one-lap shootout, benefiting from driving on far newer tyres.
There were still more cars that should have been able to unlap themselves, according to the rules.
If these rules had been followed, then the race would likely have finished behind a safety car as it was the final lap, and as Hamilton was in the lead, he would have been crowned champion.
