The governing body also explained that remedial steps had already been taken, and that in effect what could have been a crisis was already under control.
There were in fact two messages. One was a letter written by FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis, and addressed to both the sporting and technical directors of the 10 teams. The fact that both groups were copied in, rather than one or the other, was a reflection of the scope of the issue.
At almost the same time the FIA sent out a press release to the media, explaining the situation and cutting and pasting some, but not all, of the Tombazis letter.
Naturally, journalists started reporting what was happening, and that meant that drivers and team members learned about the situation before their sporting or technical directors had a chance to absorb the Tombazis letter and pass on its contents.
In some ways it was a logical strategy from the FIA. Rather than create uncertainty or panic, it took advantage of the night race timing of the Qatar weekend and the fact that the key players were off duty and absent from the paddock due to the curfew to quietly get on and address the issue overnight and into Saturday morning.
Communicating the outcome to everyone at the same time was a commendable attempt at clarity and transparency.
It was a process that probably wouldn’t have happened so efficiently a few years ago, before the FIA’s F1 team was strengthened by the addition of experienced and hands-on members such as Tombazis and sporting director Steve Nielsen.
Source: Autosport