“He made one mistake,” Christian Horner goes back on his word to accept Michael Masi’s sole slip up during Abu Dhabi title decider
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Christian Horner, Michael Masi and Toto Wolff
Christian Horner and Red Bull were fortunate enough to find themselves on the right side of the result. It was a race which was much awaited because of the position both championship protagonists found themselves after trading blows for the entire season. Both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were tied on points going into the last race and the eyes of the world were set on them.
Red Bull’s team Principal, Christian Horner, definitely wanted to get one over his arch rival, Toto Wolff, who has had his number from the last seven years. We knew the constructor’s championship was almost over but the driver’s championship was very much on. Everyone wanted to see some breathtaking action but that’s not the only thing that they got to see in Abu Dhabi.
A controversial decision by Michael Masi helped Max Verstappen clinch his maiden championship on the last lap of the race. The then race director was slaughtered online for his ‘human error’ and eventually was transferred at the end of the season. Toto Wolff clearly said that there was a clear error by Michael Masi but Red Bull stood by the race director and felt nothing wrong was done.
Christian Horner admits to Michael Masi’s only mistake during the season finale
But, Christian Horner has changed his words and feels that there was one mistake done by Michael Masi. He said, “He made one mistake in that he didn’t allow all lapped cars to un-lap themselves. think there was three cars that were kept at the back of the field and unable to [un-] lap themselves. That was the only mistake that he made.”
Criticising the FIA, he said, “So I thought it was tremendously harsh for him to be hung out to dry, particularly in public, and then the trolling that he got and the abuse that he got online without really support the federation behind him.”
“For me, I was very disappointed in the way that the FIA dealt with Michael because he was in race control doing the best that he could with the pressure that he had. The mantra was always very clear that he was always going to be under pressure to restart that race. Nobody wanted to see a world championship won under a Safety Car.”
Christian Horner has now admitted to the fact that, yes, Michael Masi did make a mistake during the championship decider. But, it was not related to the human error. Red Bull’s team Principal again has shown us as how seasoned a campaigner he is.
Also read: Lando Norris feels Montreal was a reflection of where McLaren’s current standing
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Shubham Bajpai
(776 Articles Published)