Toto Wolff ‘overstepped’ with rant at F1 race director Michael Masi
Wolff has backed a ban on teams not being able to speak to officials during races
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says he “overstepped” during his rant at race director Michael Masi at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Wolff admitted his fault while backing a ban on teams being able to speak to officials during the race. The Mercedes boss and Red Bull chief Christian Horner were both able to speak to Masi while he was deciding what to do after a crash at the final formula 1 race of the season.
Their conversations have been criticised alongside Masi’s decision to allow some cars to unlap themselves and others not. The discussions have led to F1’s managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn to call for a ban and Wolff has supported the idea.
“I agree with Ross,” Wolff told Motorsport.com. “But I equally blame Ross and myself because we have been part of the decision making to broadcast more of the channels for the purpose of transparency and entertainment for the fans.
“There is so much going on on the intercom that giving fans a little bit of an overview of all the little dramas that happen, like is the car breaking down, are we having some kind of strategy discussions, was meant well. But I think we overshot.
“I need to take myself by the nose, and Christian. We were given the opportunity to talk to the race director directly, and because we fight so fiercely for the interests of our teams all of us overstepped.”
Masi’s decision to restart the race with a lap to go and the situation around unlapping allowed Max Verstappen to overtake Lewis Hamilton to claim the F1 title.
Wolff was heard saying to the race director: “No, Michael, no, no, Michael, that was so not right.”
Mercedes lodged protests after the checkered flag but they were dismissed and the team have since withdrawn an official appeal against the result.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments