The Red Bull F1 team principal on the decision to remove the race director, disputed after the events in Abu Dhabi 2021: “Too much pressure on Masi. In that GP he got the Mercedes wrong, they had two chances of pit stops and they didn’t, “he told TalkSport.
Federico Mariani
February 23
The 2022 F1 World Championship has not yet begun, but the storm winds from Abu Dhabi are still blowing. The GP that awarded the 2021 title to Max Verstappen has not been forgotten, also thanks to the FIA’s decision to remove Michael Masi from the role of race director. A choice contested by Christian Horner, the Red Bull team manager, who returned to talk about the decisive race in an interview with ‘TalkSport’ in which there is no lack of a dig at Mercedes, the great rival.
accusation
–
Speaking of Masi, Horner goes straight to the point: the replacement was unfair and politically motivated: “I think there was too much pressure to remove Michael and it’s not fair, that’s my personal feeling. I think it’s cruel, Masi was in a very difficult position last year ”. Then the team manager attacks those who speak of favoritism towards Red Bull: “In the 2022 season there were many decisions against us. Furthermore, several sanctions have not been applied ”.
new one
–
In this sense, technical innovations become important to avoid the repetition of unclear situations, such as the introduction of a sort of Var. Horner promotes these solutions: “It is good that they add some technologies. The same goes for the arrival of Herbie Blash as he is one of the most experienced ”.
dig
–
Returning to the Abu Dhabi case and to Masi’s disputed decision to restart the race for the last lap, Horner criticizes Mercedes. From his point of view, Lewis Hamilton’s defeat would be solely the fault of his own box: “We didn’t do anything that was against the rules. The GP was a smokescreen, Mercedes had two chances to return to the pits. There were two safety cars, one virtual and one real. Hamilton asked both times if he could make a pit stop and they left him out ”. A choice paid for dearly.
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
#Horner #Masi #Mercedes #mistake #Abu #Dhabi