“Entertainment needs to follow sport and not the other way around,” Toto Wolff says he trusts FIA amidst final race controversy

Toto Wolff, Mercedes boss was certainly not a happy man after the Abu Dhabi GP a few weeks ago. FIA’s controversial decision to allow the lapped cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen unlap themselves just before the final lap stirred a lot of controversy.

The popular Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive has helped the sport find a whole new audience. After the events at Abu Dhabi GP, fans claim that the sport is becoming like the Netflix series in real life. However, Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff has falsified the theory and stated that he has full trust in the FIA and Formula One.

Toto Wolff was not impressed with how the championship ended at the Yas Marina Circuit, as he had previously claimed that the entire Mercedes team walked out of the weekend feeling disillusioned. The Austrian feels that entertainment should be the by product of Formula One, and not the other way round.

“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,” Wolff explained.

Also Read: “Positives outweigh the negatives,” Sebastian Vettel would encourage Mick Schumacher to join Ferrari

Toto Wolff calls for consistency in decision making

Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff suggested that there should be more consistency when it comes to applying the rules and regulations. “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,” Wolff added.

The Austrian boss gave his thoughts on the Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive. Wolff suggested that fans love the Netflix series, but that should not interfere with what goes on at the track. “We love Netflix and Drive to Survive. Stefano Domenicali 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,” he added.

Being the race director, Michael Masi was under serious pressure for the final race of the season. Wolff stated that he cannot judge the pressure Masi was facing before making the controversial call. “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.

Also Read: Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton again as drivers choose their top 10 of the season