© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Toto Wolff says Red Bull’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatly managed to ‘turn’ Michael Masi, with whom he shares a “bromance”, even before Abu Dhabi.
In Sky Sports’ new documentary called ‘Duel: Hamilton vs Verstappen’, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff candidly talks about what happened at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Wolff openly says that Lewis Hamilton lost the 2021 title due to “wrong decisions” made by race director Michael Masi, who he says was “turned” by Red Bull’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley.
“Jonathan Wheatley has done his job,” Wolff said.
“He’s turned Michael Masi the race director, not only in Abu Dhabi but before, and probably Max owes him a lot.”
The Austrian also says Wheatley and Masi shared a “bromance”, and adds he doesn’t want to speak to Masi.
“I haven’t spoken to him and I don’t want to speak to him ever again,” he said.
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The “bromance” Wolff is talking about was evident in the radio messages exchanged between Masi and Wheatly in the final moments of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when Masi did exactly what Red Bull’s sporting director asked him to do.
The FIA seems to agree that Masi’s decisions were not right, because after investigating them, they decided to remove him from the position of race director.
However, Wolff also describes Masi as a “victim”, because he says the problems should have been noticed by the FIA even before Abu Dhabi.
“His decisions were wrong and I’m sure that he regrets them. The FIA should have seen much earlier that there was a problem.
“There was a problem with the structure. There was a problem of personalities.”
Wolff then explains how much of an unfair disadvantage Lewis faced in the final laps of the race, when Masi’s decision left him on old worn down hard tyres, with Max Verstappen of fresh softs right behind him.
“It’s like a football game that is 1-0 for one team and suddenly the referee says, ‘now it’s golden goal. 0-0, whoever scores the next goal wins’.
“And by the way, we have to play without boots.”
In the end the Austrian says Verstappen is also a victim, because the way the championship ended has cast a shadow on his first world title.
“I feel for Max. He merits the world championship… but there’s only talk about Abu Dhabi,” Wolff concluded.
The two-part documentary ‘Duel: Hamilton vs Verstappen’ first airs on March 6 at 7pm GMT on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports F1.
