Toto Wolff: I tried to help Masi in 2021 for the good of F1
18.11.2024
Wolff told how he tried to support Masi. Mercedes chief executive Toto Wolff says he has offered support to former Formula 1 racing director Michael Masi during the busy 2021 season.
The manager also shared his memories of his emotions after the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when, after Masi’s mistake, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the title, and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton lost the race and the championship.
I felt angry, not depressed or sad, just angry that one man could take the eighth title from the best driver in the world by making a bad decision. But the context is important: there are dictators and politicians in the world who bring so much pain that it in no way compares to Lewis losing his eighth championship or losing the team.
There was anger at the person in the heat of the moment, but even Lewis was able to bring his emotions under control in a very strong way and was fine after a few days.
I tried really hard to talk to Michael, to walk him through the season. I tried to say: Look, I`ve been in this sport for a long time, you need to listen to the riders and not be stubborn in your decisions. I tried to do this for the good of our sport and, of course, so that the team would not suffer from absolutely disastrous situations. In this sense, what happened is unforgivable.
You can argue that, thanks to empathy, I should understand what he feels, and I understand that this is unhealthy. But he had the whole year to think about this, and there were people - not just me - who tried to help him in the right way.
Sometimes you just have to accept that someone acts on their own, makes their own decisions, so I don`t care anymore. “Mainly I think about it because Lewis deserved to become the greatest of all time and win his eighth championship, ” Toto said on the High Performance podcast.
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