Toto Wolff expresses his true thoughts towards “idiot” Michael Masi following a hint of an F1 comeback.
The decision to allow Michael Masi to rejoin Formula 1 was made by FIA President Mohammed ben Sulayem, which is unlikely to sit well with Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff.
In response to rumors that former Formula 1 race director Michael Masi would rejoin the sport, Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff called Masi a “idiot”.
Following controversy at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen defeated Lewis Hamilton to win the world championship after the Australian committed a critical error, Masi resigned from his position. After Nicholas Latifi’s incident, which left Hamilton dominating the race and poised to win a record eighth world championship, a safety car was brought into the race.
Verstappen was able to catch up to and pass Hamilton after Masi initially said that drivers who were lapped could not pass the safety car. Verstappen won his first world championship as a result of the event, and the FIA later acknowledged Masi’s “human error” had an impact on the outcome.
In the end, Masi resigned from the FIA, but Mohammed ben Sulayem, the organization’s president, who assumed leadership a week following the controversy, has made it possible for him to rejoin.
Ben Sulayem told the Press Association, “I always apologize, but I cannot apologize for something that was done before my time.” “All right, I’ll apologize, but I’ll bring Michael Masi along once again.
Do you believe that to be correct? A person who has experienced abuse and attacks is known as the poor guy. Michael Masi had a terrible time. Assault! And I will bring Michael Masi in if I perceive an opportunity that the FIA needs to take advantage of and he is the ideal person to do so.”
After calling Masi a “idiot who made the wrong decision” lately, Wolff would not be pleased if Masi was ever welcomed back into the fold. Wolff said to motorsport.com in reflection on the safety car incident, “[There were] severe scars. Amazing wounds that, in a sense, we can never fully heal.
“They turned into scars, and sometimes you wonder, ‘How could that happen?'” We are aware of the events that led to it.
However, I don’t want to spend any more time [considering the causes] since that would give Masi too much credit. He’s merely a foolish person who chose poorly.”
Since then, Wolff has been critical of Masi on several occasions, saying that the previous year he was “disrespectful” to drivers and “immune to any feedback”. “The drivers tell you how Masi conducted the drivers’ briefings, and some of the guys said it was almost disrespectful how he treated some of them,” he remarked.
“He simply wasn’t sensitive to criticism, and he hasn’t adequately acknowledged his mistakes even as of right now. He was a liability to the sport because everyone was talking about Abu Dhabi and the race director, and a race director should be someone who does their job and ensures that the race is conducted in compliance with the rules, not someone who is the subject of conversation.”
