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In an interview with the Press Association at the Australian GP, Mercedes AMG F1 team principal Toto Wolff attacked former race director Michael Masi over the build-up to the 2021 season finale. The Austrian had earlier accepted the changes made by the FIA and the positive steps taken to improve the management of the sport following the debacle in Abu Dhabi last year. Wolff’s recent comments, however, are fresh ammunition for social media crusaders and the press over a subject that had just lost traction in the F1 domain.
After suggesting that the sport needed to move on from the events of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, Wolff’s recent comments are an outlier in the deep underlying resentment towards the Australian race director. These comments, however, question his motives for making these remarks at a race weekend in Masi’s home country and their timing with a new season underway. While the Austrian was very clear that he felt no remorse for Masi, the remarks threw a fresh spotlight on a subject that had become subdued and lost its relevance.
Toto Wolff’s damning claims regarding Michael Masi
One of the accusations that Toto Wolff made in the interview was of the drivers feeling disrespected by Michael Masi in some of the briefings as he was never open to feedback. Consequently, he even went to the extent of labeling the Australian as a ‘liability’ to the sport. Many drivers, including Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz, however, have empathized with the former race director and defended him in the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi GP.
Adding fuel to the inferno and without revealing any names, Toto Wolff also claimed that a Middle Eastern race promoter had to tolerate ’abuse' from Masi. The revelation is a strong accusation against the former race director, who has been the only entity who has not spoken up amidst the Abu Dhabi charade. In this case, the Australian might have the ’Right of Reply', which will be interesting to hear should he get the chance to do so.
Revealing that he had lunch with Masi before the season finale, Wolff confessed that he had then requested the race director to be open to criticism and opinion. The Austrian asserted that he was not trying to influence Masi at the lunch but instead reminded him to be open to suggestions and opinions while carrying out his duties. A revelation such as this would be unheard of in any other sport. It is the equivalent of a soccer team manager dining with the referee before a match to remind him of his role.
In a documentary by Sky Sports called ‘The Duel’, the Mercedes chief has also suggested that the bromance between Masi and Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley led to the mismanagement of the final lap of the season finale. With Toto Wolff’s revelation of having lunch with the race director, brows will be raised in the paddock and at Milton Keynes.
Comments that don’t support Toto Wolff’s stand on mental health issues
In an age and era in the sport, where mental health and social media abuse has become an ongoing discussion, most of these comments, remarks, and revelations put Michael Masi through the wringer once again. Toto Wolff’s lack of empathy towards Masi’s mental health while making such remarks is appalling, after recently admitting to having undergone therapy for suffering from mental health issues himself.
Earlier this year, senior FIA figure Peter Bayer admitted that the Australian race director was hit hard by hostility in the public domain. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem also revealed that Masi had been through a stressful period as the investigation unfolded. It was also reported that Masi had received death threats after the season finale. Although Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Max Verstappen condemned the threats, Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton maintained an awkward silence. This was a stark contrast to the prompt support both Mercedes and Hamilton showed in Nicholas Latifi’s case.
From a humane standpoint, the real question lies in whether these comments are justified when the individual accused has already been dismissed from his duties and more or less served the sentence for his mismanagement of the race.
The one-sided narrative that has been playing out all this while
The odd narrative that has played into Toto Wolff’s favor in the whole charade, has been the portrayal of the 2021 season in the Sky Sports documentary and the Netflix F1 series. Both shows have highlighted Red Bull and Wheatley lobbying the race director, while the Mercedes chief’s lobbying and rants to Masi over the radio, which was particularly significant in the races in Silverstone, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi, made no mention.
The latest reports of Michael Masi’s situation were revealed when the FIA president claimed that they were convincing him to stay within the organization and take up another role. It is unclear, however, whether Masi is still a part of FIA’s organizational chart or has left the motorsports governing body. With the blatant accusations made against him recently, is it time for F1 and the FIA to end the pantomime theme of the 2021 season which plagues the new era of the sport? At this point, the Australian’s silence has started to reverberate more than Lewis Hamilton’s silence over the winter break.
The precedent this sets
Firing Michael Masi was evidence of F1 kowtowing to the pressure mounted by the team, its driver, and a disgruntled fanbase. The continuous public humiliation of Masi, however, doesn’t set the right example either. Such public scrutiny and criticism by teams and team principals threatens and intimidates the new race directors from taking any missteps while carrying out their duties. The constant fear of being shredded in the public domain looms over the new race directors’ heads, with Masi being a prime example of the ramifications.
From a PR perspective, it neither serves Mercedes’ corporate image nor the image of the sport. As the dramatic charade continues into the new season, the new ammunition provided by Toto Wolff will inevitably be the highlight of the press conference at Imola. Whether the Mercedes boss’ relentless rants against Masi propels the team back to the front is up for anybody’s guess right now.
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