The historic conclusion of the 2021 title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton continues to be a sore point for Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. Verstappen became world champion for the first time in ’21 after a race in Abu Dhabi that was as sensational as it was controversial. Reflecting on that race, Wolff refers to the then FIA race director Michael Masi as ‘a lunatic’.
In an interview with the English newspaper The Telegraph, the Austrian suggests that Masi ‘destroyed the record of the greatest champion of all time.’ Hamilton had long hoped in Abu Dhabi to become world champion for the eighth time in his career, which would have been a record. However, Max Verstappen ended up taking the title.
In the final stages of the race, under heavy pressure from both Red Bull and Mercedes, Masi made a decision about the safety car procedure that drastically influenced the outcome of the championship. Shortly thereafter, he was relieved of his duties by the FIA. A subsequent investigation concluded that Masi had made a ‘human error’ but had acted ‘in good faith’.
‘Not Experienced Since Childhood’
Wolff indicates that the pain of that particular evening in Abu Dhabi still runs deep. “I haven’t experienced someone losing control of a situation like this since my childhood,” he said about the chaotic final phase. “There is one lunatic who can essentially destroy the record of the greatest champion of all time.”
His wife, Susie Wolff, also speaks out about the impact of the incident in Abu Dhabi. “It was disbelief, that the decision of one person, to interpret the rules in a way that had never been applied before, could lead to such an outcome. It weighed heavily on me for a long time.”
