Former Racing Driver Bashes Christian Horner for Michael Masi Comments

Tiff Needell has hit out at Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner. The former British driver expressed that Horner’s opinion that was shared on Michael Masi with BBC doesn’t help F1 in any way. Christian Horner had an interview with BBC Sport where he’d addressed the Michael Masi situation that followed the conclusion of the last season.

Michael Masi has been a center of controversy since the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year. The last lap of the last race saw Max Verstappen take away the title from Lewis Hamilton in behold fashion. Many opined that the race direction at UAE had errors.

Masi called to un-lap the lapped cars that brought Lewis Hamilton right before Max Verstappen. Max was in an advantageous position with fresh tires. As soon as the race restarted, Verstappen overtook Hamilton to claim his maiden F1 title. There have been a series of controversies post-Abu Dhabi GP, and Mercedes even filed pleas to FIA immediately after the race.

Talking about Christian Horner’s interview, Needell conveyed in his official Twitter post, “Will anyone who has Christian Horner’s ear please tell him that telling @BBCSport that Masi was removed by pressure from Mercedes that was ‘tantamount to bullying’ isn’t helping @F1 move on – nor it is doing anything for his own tattered image!”

Read More: Max Verstappen Believes Masi Required More Support in F1 Decisions “Everyone Needs Help”

What happened with Michael Masi post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

FIA sacked Michael Masi from his position as race director. In place of him, the F1 governing body put two-place who will alternate in the job. However, Masi will continue to work with FIA in a different role.

Since Masi’s dismissal, there has been a blame game going on between Red Bull and Mercedes. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff mentioned Masi involved in a ‘bromance’ with Red Bull officials. The comments didn’t go down too well within the community. The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also called up FIA to publish the commission meeting findings in public.

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On the other hand, Max Verstappen has conveyed that the dismissal was ‘unfair’. Among all of these, Christian Horner also stepped in to support the former race director by saying that the dismissal was unjust. Horner blamed Mercedes for the dismissal by stating what they’d done was “tantamount to bullying.”