Ecclestone critical of Masi and FIA: "What should Max have done differently?"

Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 boss who made the sport so great, is closely following the title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Earlier he already expressed a slight preference for Verstappen as the winner, a feeling that was reinforced after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The race last time out did not impress the 91-year old Brit.

According to Ecclestone, it looked more like an amateur race than a Formula One race, especially with race control. "They even went so far as to ask the drivers where they wanted to start after the red flag," he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ecclestone does not see what Verstappen did wrong

The former Formula 1 chief believes that the stewards have interfered far too much in the title fight. In addition, he does not see what Verstappen did wrong at the moment he wanted to let Hamilton pass, after which Hamilton drove into the back of the Red Bull. "Max did what you would expect him to do to get out of the way. Lewis didn't move, it looked like he didn't want to overtake. What else should Max have done?", he wonders.

Ecclestone therefore calls the penalty the Dutchman received for that incident unjustified. "Lewis should have gone out of the slipstream, he was the one who collided with him at the back", the Brit continues. "The problem with Formula 1 today is that the rules change at every race. In one race you can go over the white line and in the next you can't. The same manoeuvre is sometimes penalised, other times not. Even the penalties are different. Nonsense," he says.

Stewards interfere too much in title race

The problem according to Ecclestone is that the rules are too complicated. "F1 is not what it used to be, back then there were not so many rules. When the lights went out, you went racing," he explains. He therefore joins Christian Horner, who criticised race director Michael Masi and said he misses veteran Charlie Whiting.

"Masi unfortunately doesn't have the long experience to be able to run things as he should," said Ecclestone. "Charlie had been in this environment all his life, he knew everyone personally. The insiders knew that. He tried to make things simple and transparent. At the moment they are neither."