Wolff critical of Masi: 'Some drivers found him disrespectful'

On Tuesday, it will be exactly four months since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the race where Max Verstappen clinched the championship on the final lap by overtaking Lewis Hamilton. The controversy it generated caused Michael Masi to leave as race director. 

Toto Wolff already spoke out after the race that it was the wrong decision by Masi and four months after the event, he looks back at Sky Sports.

"It is quite interesting because I had lunch with him [Masi] on the Wednesday before the race, and I said to him that he needs to take criticism on board and develop from there."

Drivers found Masi "disrespectful"

Indeed, according to the Mercedes team boss, Masi listens very little to the feedback given to him. This not only caused unrest within F1, but also awkward situations in the driver briefings, which were led by Masi. According to Wolff, several times things did not go as expected there.

"You hear from the drivers and how the drivers' briefings were conducted [by Masi] and some of the guys said it was almost disrespectful how he treated some of them," Wolff reveals. According to the German, he still maintains, even after the FIA report, that he was not wrong in Abu Dhabi. "He was just immune to any feedback and even today he has not properly reflected that he did something wrong."