Michael Masi committed an unforgivable mistake in the eyes of Toto Wolff and the entire Mercedes team in 2021 when his impulsive decision-making marred the ending of an epic season-long battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. But why Wolff and Mercedes? Because Hamilton came out as the loser.
It’s been almost three years since that event, and Wolff’s previously hard feelings have admittedly softened. But that doesn’t mean he will try to be understanding toward Masi, who shortly after Abu Dhabi 2021, lost his job due to his poor performance.
The Mercedes Team Principal, said on the High-Performance Podcast, that he “understands how he [Michael Masi] feels”. But at the same time, Wolff termed what Masi did as ‘inexcusable’. “He could have thought about it all year long,” Wolff added.
Hamilton, on that fateful night in Abu Dhabi, was just a few laps away from winning his eighth Championship, and the champagne was ready on the ice in the Mercedes garage. Verstappen was nowhere close. But in the blink of an eye, it all changed.
Posting the same video of Toto Wolff saying ‘No Michael, no no Michael that was so not right’ every day until @MercedesAMGF1 retweet it. #F1 pic.twitter.com/VSlzWGBD5k
— TotoWolffBot (@TotoWolffCrying) November 6, 2024
Nicholas Latifi crashed, and the safety car came out. What happened in its immediate aftermath was fairly straightforward as the cars got closer together, with four lapped cars separating Hamilton and Verstappen.
Masi, however, with just one more lap of action remaining, called the safety car in, and asked the lapped cars to move past Hamilton, allowing Verstappen with a golden opportunity to overtake.
The Red Bull driver grabbed it with both hands, and passed the Briton to win his first title.
Wolff doesn’t care anymore
Wolff was livid at the time, and Hamilton was heartbroken with what happened. The wounds will never truly heal, because it felt like Hamilton’s moment of glory was snatched away in broad daylight (it was under the floodlights ironically).
But Wolff admitted that he does not think, or care about it much anymore.
“Sometimes you just have to realize that someone is just doing his own thing or taking his own decision, so for me, I don’t care about it anymore,” the 52-year-old revealed. He went as far as stating that talking about it on the podcast wasted three minutes of their time.
“He has no relevance,” Wolff added, giving a subtle reminder that Masi wouldn’t be forgiven.
