Horner: It was just a desperate attempt by Mercedes, Masi made the right decision. Do you agree with the Red Bull boss’ statement?

Max Verstappen secured the World Championship title at the Yas Marina circuit after Michael Masi decided to restart the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on its final lap. In any case, according to Christian Horner, the race director made the right decision. How does the Red Bull boss see this situation and what did he say about Mercedes?

It has to be said, if it hadn’t been for Latifi’s accident on lap 54, none of this would very likely have happened. It was at turn 14 that he failed to control the steering of his monopost and ended up in the wall with his Williams, whereupon the safety car had to come out on track.

The Red Bull driver used the yellow flags and the safety car exit to change tyres and put on the softest specification marked in red, while Hamilton stayed on the very worn hard tyres.

This secured the title for the talented Dutchman, as Hamilton really couldn’t compete with him in this state of mind. Mercedes were under the impression that the race directorate, led by Masi, had served Verstappen the title on a silver platter and lodged a protest.

Toto Wolff complained that the rules had not been followed. The rules tell us that in order to restart the race, all cars running a lap behind the safety car must overtake, make up the one lap loss and then join the starting field in the correct order.

Masi, however, argued before the sports commissioners that the purpose of the article in question was to remove cars that were obstructing the race leaders. He then went on to add that the teams had previously agreed to finish the race under green flags if the condition of the race allowed it.

After a lengthy hearing with the stewards, the FIA dismissed Mercedes’ complaints – stating that Masi has the universal right to decide when the safety car goes back to the pits and arguing that the race director’s authority overrides the regulations that set out a standardised procedure under yellow flags.

Horner made it clear afterwards that he was of course happy that both Mercedes complaints were brushed off the table. He said the title should not be decided “at the green table”. He said he understood Wolff’s efforts, but said it was a desperate attempt to overturn the result.

“They were great competitors for the title this year, Lewis is a phenomenal driver. The season has brought some controversy, it’s been exciting and the fight has been extremely tough. But we’re just thrilled with the result and we’re very proud of Max. He has been phenomenal all year,” Horner said in an interview with F1.

“We never wanted to let the title be decided in front of the sports commissioners. There was a lot of discussion before the race, of course, but it wasn’t in anyone’s interest,” he explained.

“We talked about letting them race. You know, for example, Niki Lauda was the one who fought hard for it in the past. And we always reminded that none of us want to see races being stopped for safety care,” he concluded.

So, based on his words, the Red Bull boss is confident that Masi did the right thing. According to him, the sports commissioners also reacted very correctly and the title belongs to Verstappen according to the rules.

Sources