“It’s called a motor race,” Michael Masi’s cold reply to Toto Wolff after controversial decision at Abu Dhabi GP
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Toto Wolff
The Abu Dhabi GP 2021 brought an end to an epic season, which is surely one for the history books. The championship battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went right down the wire, as the two drivers went wheel to wheel on the final lap of the race.
It was Max Verstappen who emerged victorious to claim his first ever world championship title. However, FIA made a controversial decision which is doing the rounds. With 5 laps remaining in the race, and Lewis Hamilton well in the lead, Nicholas Latifi’s accident brought in the safety car.
Max Verstappen, who was running P2 was pitted for a fresh pair of tyres. However, there was only racing lap that could be managed due to the debris on track. There were around four-five cars between Max and Hamilton, and lapping them could take a lot of time, which would guarantee Hamilton the title.
Toto Wolff furious over Michael Masi’s decision
As things panned out, FIA decided to let those four cars pass by the safety car, which would give us a Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton final lap showdown for the championship. Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal was certainly not pleased with the decision and expressed his anger on the FIA radio.
“We need to go back to the lap before,” said Wolff saying that lapped cars should not be allowed to overtake. However, Michael Masi was taking none of it and gave a cold reply to Wolff. He said, “It’s called a motor race.”
After the race, Mercedes saw two of their decisions not being upheld by FIA, which means that Max Verstappen was officially crowned as the world champion. However, Mercedes will re-appeal the decision, and one can expect that the matter will be pulled into an ugly spat between FIA, Mercedes and Red Bull.
Also Read: Christian Horner thanks Nicholas Latifi for championship-deciding role at Abu Dhabi GP
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)