Horner defends former race director Michael Masi: "Tantamount to bullying"

Since last year's controversial final, former race director Michael Masi has received a lot of criticism. According to Christian Horner, it even went as far as bullying, partly due to the behaviour of some teams.

At the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Michael Masi decided to let a number of cars pass leader Lewis Hamilton so that on the final lap the championship could be decided between Max Verstappen and the Briton. It would be Masi's last decision as race director.

Already during the race, the race leader received criticism from the Mercedes garage, but it did not stop there. Since the Grand Prix, the Australian continues to receive buckets of criticism, which Christian Horner believes is unjustified.

"To me, that was tantamount to bullying. He was hung out to dry by a couple of teams, and I think that’s absolutely not right. It’s unacceptable, the guy is getting threats towards his family and so on," the Red Bull Racing team boss said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Since the criticism of Masi and other big names in Formula 1 got out of hand, Horner believes there should be stricter rules for social media. The team boss is 'a supporter of freedom of expression', but 'you don't want to get abuse and bullying.'

Meanwhile, Michael Masi has decided to leave the FIA altogether and return to Australia, to be closer to his family and friends.