Not even former Red Bull boss Christian Horner got Mercedes chief Toto Wolff as riled up as one infamous figure from recent Formula 1 past, who the Austrian clearly still has not forgiven

View 2 Images

Toto Wolff remains furious with one F1 figure to this day(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Toto Wolff continues to harbour loathing former Formula 1 race director Michael Masi, four years after his controversial involvement in the 2021 title race finale, by branding the former FIA official a “lunatic”. In a fresh interview, the Mercedes boss also claimed Australian Masi had “destroyed the record of the greatest champion of all time”, in reference to his former driver Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit was denied victory in the dramatic conclusion of what had been an enthralling yet fractious championship battle with Max Verstappen throughout the campaign. Hamilton was ahead for the majority of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix decider but it all came undone when a late collision brought out the safety car.

It appeared Hamilton would triumph but Masi hastily recalled the safety car to the pit lane before the start of the final lap so the outcome of the race, and championship, could be decided under racing conditions.

Hamilton, running on extremely worn tyres, could not fend off Verstappen who passed him on the final lap to claim his maiden World championship, cruelly denying his rival what would have been a record-breaking eighth title success.

Mercedes team principal Wolff’s response in the garage to the unfolding drama on track remains amongst the most memorable moments of that deeply contentious finish. The Austrian was seen on TV feeds smashing his headset onto a table after telling Masi over the radio: “Michael, this is so not right.”

Wolff referenced that reaction as he told The Telegraph: “I have not experienced the loss of control of a situation since I was a child. There is one lunatic who can basically destroy the record of the greatest champion of all time.”

In the same interview, his wife and chief executive of F1 Academy, Susie Wolff, said of her own response to what unfolded: “It was disbelief. That one person’s decision to interpret the rules, in a way that they had never been interpreted before, could have caused such an outcome. It sat so heavily with me, for a long time afterwards.”

Following an internal probe into the events, the FIA determined that the race director’s “human error” had resulted in that conclusion to the race and championship fight, though they found Masi had acted in good faith. Nevertheless, the Australian was removed from his F1 race director role before departing the governing body entirely, subsequently being appointed as chairman of the Supercars commission in his home country.

View 2 Images

Michael Masi left the FIA and took a job in Australian Supercars(Image: Getty Images)

Masi also spoke out in an interview where he revealed he and his family were subjected to death threats following the controversy. He said: “I opened my messages that night to check in with them. I had no idea that I could receive them from people I did not know. But I was wrong – I was confronted with hundreds of messages. I wouldn’t say thousands, but certainly hundreds.

“They were shocking. Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun. And there were death threats, people saying they were going to come after me and my family. They kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business. It was the same type of abuse.”