The new season hasn’t started yet but it already promises. While the first laps of winter testing are expected this Wednesday morning on the Barcelona track, the outcome of last season in Abu Dhabi continues to make people talk. Latest to speak: Christian Horner, director of Red Bull and world champion Max Verstappen, on the dismissal of Michael Masi. Fernando Alonso, the Alpine driver, also gave his feelings on this subject.
Masi was sacked five days ago as F1 race director, no doubt due to his handling of the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Australian had allowed the intercalated cars to overtake the safety car, and Max Verstappen, who had just put on new tyres, was able to overtake like in the parade Lewis Hamilton, whose rubbers were worn.
Alonso validates Masi’s decision
“I think it’s hard, he was in a very difficult position, reacted Horner in an interview with Talksport, a private British radio station. He did nothing wrong according to the rules. When you look at what he has at his disposal in terms of resources, compared to what the teams have, it’s a huge difference. I just think there’s been so much pressure put on ousting Michael and it’s not fair. This is my personal feeling. This is the business of the FIA (international federation). It’s a bit of a smokescreen because if you look at this race, Mercedes had two opportunities to refuel (…) We felt that a lot of decisions were made against us last year. »
For his part, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) also made a point of expressing himself on this affair: “Everyone has his opinion but for me, it was a normal race, explains the double Spanish world champion to the sports daily Marca, who quoted the German RTL TV. Yes, there was this decision but no one can control whether or not there is a safety car. You can never please everyone. It was like that because it was the last race of the season. But in 20 years, it’s happened 200 times, it’s happened to me 200 times, it’s happened 200 times to Michael (Scumacher), to Montoya, to everyone. If it happens in the 3rd or 5th race, it’s not a big deal. But this was the last race of the season, two laps from the end…”
Wolff charges Masi
Toto Wolff, the director of Mercedes and therefore of Lewis Hamilton (who assured that he never wanted to stop competition), had already expressed himself the day after the FIA’s decision concerning Michael Masi: “The fact that we withdrew our appeal has nothing to do with the departure of someone on the side of the FIA. I do not know where it comes from. I think it was necessary to review certain structures in Formula 1, both at the sporting level and on the technical aspect. »
For the coming season, the FIA has implemented a rotation system with German Niels Wittich, who was supposed to be Masi’s assistant this year, and Portuguese Eduardo Freitas, European Le Mans race director Series and the Asian Le Mans Series. The competition will begin on March 20 with a first Grand Prix on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.