More question marks over Masi's position after more radio messages emerge
General
- GPblog.com
It may be getting even hotter under Michael Masi's feet. Indeed, the BBC confirmed on the day of the RB18's launch that the FIA is aware of a number of radio messages that would raise new questions about the choices made by Formula 1's race director.
Wheatley and Masi in talks
The British Medium wrote on its website that Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull Racing's team manager, made a suggestion to Masi about how to bring the safety car period to an end. Masi is said to have immediately adopted that suggestion, which creates even more question marks. Could Masi have had a preference for Max Verstappen and Red Bull?
Over the on-board radio, Wheatley suggested to the Australian: "Those lapped cars; you don't need to let them go right the way around and catch up with the back of the pack. You only need to let them go, and then we've got a motor race on our hands." Masi actually did exactly what Red Bull suggests and then told the Mercedes team boss: "Toto, it's called a motor race, OK?"
Red Bull made every effort to ensure that Nicholas Latifi's car was cleared as quickly as possible and that the race would not end under the safety car. Eventually, all the greens came on signal exactly one lap before the flag fell, exactly what Max Verstappen needed to take the world title for the first time.
FIA knows about communication
A spokesperson for the FIA confirmed to the BBC that they were aware of this fact."We are aware of this and it is part of the investigation." Currently, the international motorsport federation is investigating the procedures and how all this could have happened. What the FIA wants above all is to prevent something like this from happening again.
The findings of the investigation will be shared with all fans on March 18. The teams and drivers will undoubtedly be informed earlier of the conclusions drawn, but it is certain that it will still take several weeks before the investigation is fully completed.