Mercedes team Toto Wolff has stated that a new race director would not solve the problems of Formula 1.
“I’m not interested in having a conversation with Michael Masi,” said Toto Wolff unmistakably after the events at the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi in 2021. Nevertheless, the Mercedes team boss emphasizes that he is not interested in removing Masi as race director in the future.
“It’s a bigger problem,” he said of his severe criticism in the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi race. “My values and my sense of integrity are simply incompatible with the decisions that were made on Sunday [in Abu Dhabi] were hit “, the Austrian had declared, among other things.
“It’s not just about a decision to replace the race director. The whole decision-making system has to be improved,” demands Wolff for the future. Because during the entire 2021 season there had been “inconsistencies in the implementation of the rules on the track”.
“It’s one thing to drive hard and have different views between drivers and teams. That’s the nature of things. But inconsistent decisions lead to controversy and polarization. And that is what led to a lot of the totally unnecessary controversy on the line, “explains Wolff.
Wolff commemorates the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix
The lack of consistency dragged through the whole year. “But this last decision [in Abu Dhabi] had the biggest impact. And from a sporting perspective, the impact was catastrophic because it was the world championship that decided, “said Wolff, referring to the controversial safety car decision.
At the same time, the Austrian also admits that Mercedes was not always at the wrong end of the decisions last year. “Sometimes it hit us and sometimes we were more lucky,” admits Wolff. Nonetheless, he would like the rules to be applied more consistently in the future.
He cites the race at the Nürburgring 2020 as an example of the missing line. At that time, after a long safety car phase, Masi said: “The regulations say: All lapped vehicles must be waved through. That affected positions six upwards. So it was about ten, eleven cars that had to lap back. “
In Abu Dhabi, however, only a few cars were allowed to lap back before the race was reopened. According to Wolff, the reason that followed was “exactly the opposite” of what was said a good year earlier at the Nürburgring. There shouldn’t be anything like that in the future.
Wolff: Formula 1 must not be “wrestling”
Wolff does not believe that Masi only released the race in Abu Dhabi so quickly because the Formula 1 bosses did not want the season to end behind the safety car. “I would never say something like that, because in the end we deliver entertainment. But entertainment has to follow sport and not the other way around,” explains Wolff.
“Stefano [Domenicali] is a real racer and would not be interested in intervening in racing for the entertainment factor. I cannot judge the pressure the race director is under. But we are so credible as a sport because it is a sport – and not wrestling, “emphasizes the Mercedes team boss.
“And the rules are the rules,” he recalls. You can’t just interpret them differently, just “to spice up the action.” But how should things go on in his opinion if a simple change of race director cannot solve the existing problems? On this issue, Wolff relies on a dialogue between all parties.
“I am confident that all of us, the teams, the drivers, the FIA and the sport, can improve the way decisions are made so that the sport becomes stronger. While these situations are very painful, they are one too.” Opportunity to do the sport better, “said Wolff.
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