“No Michael, this is so unfair”. Toto Wolff during the last kilometers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – those who delivered the world title in the hands of Max Verstappen pulling it off those of Lewis Hamilton who was now looking forward to the eighth world champion after a dominated race – he let out the whole thing via radio his anger at the decision of Race Director Michael Masi who forced the restart procedure after the Safety Car beyond belief through a ‘freestyle’ reading of the regulations as pointed out by the Mercedes team principal.
“We would have won in any court” was the thesis put forward by Toto Wolff in the days following the Yas Marina race, at the end of which the Brackley team had reserved the possibility of appealing against the decision of the Race Commissioners but then did not materialize the protest in front of the will expressed by the FIA to examine what happened in Abi Dhabi to ensure that such a controversial and unsportsmanlike situation does not happen again. Yesterday the new President of the FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem has made official the fact that Michael Masi will no longer be the Race Director in 2022, a role that will be covered by a relay race between Eduardo Freitas (Race Director of the WEC, the World Endurance Championship) and Niels Wittich (referee of the DTM) supported by a consultant of experience (Herbie Blash) and from a remote garage in the football ‘VAR’ style.
A decision, that of the FIA, which Leo Turrini on The Rest of the Carlino he judges a bad sign from a ‘new course’ that begins by certifying once again how influential Mercedes’ political weight is in F1. “Mercedes presents the W13 today, but it has already won – we read in the columns of the newspaper – in fact, yesterday Mohammed Ben Sulayem dropped his breeches. He surrendered to the very strong pressure of Toto Wolff and Hamilton himself: the Australian Michael Masi, for three seasons the sole referee of the GPs, was relieved of his post. Mercedes, in exchange for giving up an exhausting legal battle, had snatched from the FIA the promise that someone (Masi, in fact) would have paid. However you turn it, not a good debut for Todt’s heir. Submitting to the demands of those who have the arrogance of power is a bad sign. For everyone”.
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