© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says in Formula 1 “entertainment needs to follow sport and not the other way around”.
The controversial decisions made by race director Michael Masi at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ultimately decided the 2021 championship. Some have since suggested that they were made to increase the entertainment factor.
Although Toto Wolff did not hide his displeasure with the decisions, he also said he doesn’t believe Formula 1 wanted them to be made to appeal to the ‘Netflix crowd’.
“I would never want to put such things in [the media] and I would never say such things because at the end, we provide entertainment but entertainment needs to follow sport and not the other way around,” the Austrian said.
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“The rules are the rules, the consistency of the application of the rules is important and no decision making should ever happen contrary to the rules just to spice up the action.
“We love Netflix and Drive to Survive. Stefano Domenicali [F1 CEO] is doing a phenomenal job in marketing the sport and Stefano, as a true racer, would have no interest in interfering into the racing just for the entertainment factor.
“So, I cannot judge the pressures of the race director but in any case, we are so credible as a sport because it is sport and it is not wrestling,” Wolff concluded.
