Wolff: “I still think about the 2021 final race every week”

Toto Wolff says he tried to “guide” former FIA race director Michael Masi in his role throughout 2021, using his experience in Formula 1 to tell him to “listen to the drivers” and not be “arrogant” or “stubborn”.

The Mercedes team principal and CEO admitted the dramatic 2021 season finale, which saw the safety car called under controversial circumstances and Max Verstappen pass Lewis Hamilton on the final lap, left him “angry” at the time and still thinks about that race every week because it cost Hamilton an eighth world title.

Verstappen and Hamilton have fought one of the most exciting title battles in F1 history all season, but the FIA’s report into the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has revealed that safety car regulations were incorrectly applied.

Only the cars separating the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers were allowed to pass the safety car, and an additional lap was not completed afterwards that would have taken the race to the chequered flag.

Asked how he felt that night, Wolff told the High Performance podcast: “Furious. Not depressed or sad, just angry. I was angry that one person could take away the eighth championship from the best driver in the world with a bad decision.”

“Now, you have to put it in context. There’s so much pain and harm being caused by dictators, crazy politicians around the world, it’s nothing compared to Lewis losing his eighth championship or us losing as a team, but it was just the anger of the moment, the anger at one person.”

“And even Lewis learned to manage his emotions very strongly. Even he felt good after a few days.

“This incident is still with us because of the injustice that happened that day, but it is not constantly on our minds and it does not upset us.” 

Masi left the FIA ​​a few months after this race and was replaced by a rotating race director system.

Wolff revealed that he and others in the paddock had tried to talk to Masi to help him through the 2021 season, which is a big year for Formula 1, but his actions in Abu Dhabi were ultimately “inexcusable”.

“I’ve tried to talk to Michael and guide him throughout the year and talk to him and say, ‘Listen, I’ve been in this sport a long time. Listen to the drivers. Don’t be stubborn all the time when you’re making decisions. Don’t be arrogant,'” Wolff said.

“I tried not to be vulnerable to situations that could be completely detrimental for the good of the sport and of course for us as a team.”

“In that sense, what happened is unforgivable. Now, you might say I have to empathize and understand how he feels.”

“I know how he feels and I know it’s not good or bad but if other people, not just me, tried to support him in the right way, he could have been thinking about it all year long.”

“So sometimes you have to realize that someone is just doing it their own way or making up their own mind. So for me, I don’t care anymore,” he said.

The Mercedes team boss believes both Hamilton and Verstappen were worthy of winning the title that year, but feels it was “unfair” to Hamilton given how the race unfolded.

When asked how often he thinks about the events of Abu Dhabi in 2021, Wolff said: “Every week, of course.”

“Yes, there are moments every week when I think about it, but mainly I think Lewis deserves to be the greatest of all time with eight world titles. You can argue anything about that year.”

“I think both Max and Lewis deserved the title. There were times throughout the year when Max lost points that he shouldn’t have lost.”

“You look at Silverstone today, you look at the crash in Monza, so they both deserve to be champions. But what happened that afternoon in Abu Dhabi was not fair,” he replied.