Red Bull boss Christian Horner contacted Michael Masi twice since Abu Dhabi 2021 and defends ex-race director’s decisions
Mercedes’ 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton was leading en route to an all-time record eighth F1 championship with the race set to finish behind a 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Safety Car, until Masi’s call to al🔯low lapped🉐 cars to unlap themselves.
This decision allowed Red Bull’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen to over🅘take Hamilton and claim his first F1 title in a season-finale where the tremors are still being felt.
Red Bull team principal Horner 𒉰was asked on the Beyond The Grid podcast if he has spo💖ken to Masi, who has lost his job, since. He replied: “Yes, on a couple of occasions.
“I felt that it wasn’t fair, the way he had been treated, because I think that he’d done the best that he ༺could, following the principles.
“The only thing he screwed up on was not allowing the final two cars at the back of the field to unlap themselve💃s.
“As 𝐆we saw recentꦺly in Monza, nobody wants to see a race diluted and finished under a Safety Car.
“So he did everything to get that race going again, which would have been a horrendous finish to the season, to see ꦰit just diluted and peter out under a Safety Car.
“I think the reaction after the race, there 🀅was a huge amount of abuse sent to him, ther🤡e were death threats to his family. No individual deserves to go through that."
"Michael Masi did the very best he could"
“I think that Michael, in difficult circumstances, did the very best he c💞ould throughout the year," Horner said.
“We have to remember he had very little support in that raceಞ control tower an𝓀d was left very much on his own up there.
“When you follow the process of how they’re loo💝king at how cars run, it’s back to pens and pieces of paper.
“He didn’t have all the b🔯ackup that the teams have, for example, with our operations rooms, and the software.
“It was still a very rudimentary process.”
Masi lost his job with the FIA in the aftermath.
This season at the Ital𒈔ian Grand Prix, Verstappen won as the race ended behind a Safety Car - the correct interpretation of the rule.
Verstappen leads the 2022 standings and can win his second consecutive ༒championship this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix💮.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sp൩orts for a decade covering everything from American ✅sports, to football, to F1.
