New FIA advisor tells what option he was thinking of during Abu Dhabi GP

Herbie Blash will return to Formula 1 as an FIA advisor starting this season. The new race directors, Niels Wittich and Eduaro Freitas, can fall back on the experienced Blash. The 73-year-old Briton has now shed his own light on the hectic final stage of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Michael Masi, then still active as a race director in the premier class of motor sport, decided to send the safety car onto the track after Nicholas Latifi 's crash and to stay behind it for several laps. With only one lap to go, the track was released and Max Verstappen could steam on to the world title on his fresh tires.

What would Blash have done?

Blash himself would probably have made a different choice than Masi, he reveals in conversation with Peter Windsor. The returned advisor himself would have opted for a red flag, and then to complete the remaining laps as a kind of sprint race. That way, Latifi's car could have been quietly reamed. Blash does, however, stand up for Masi and emphasizes that it is logical that you would not come up with this idea when you are under such high pressure.

Windsor asks Blash where he was and how he experienced the moment at the Yas Marina Circuit. "First of all, I felt very sorry for Michael and for Lewis. I was actually in Barbados watching with some friends, and under no pressure at all when I saw the situation with the shunted car, wow. Ideal to stop the race, and have a fantastic sprint race."

Blash, however, doesn't dare say that he would have actually done that if he had been in Masi's position. "Would I have done that if I had been in Abu Dhabi? That, I don't know but sitting there with friends that's exactly what I said. But Michael was under huge pressure," he acknowledges.