Toto Wolff Blames Wheatley-Masi ‘Bromance’ for 2021 F1 Finale Result – “Max Probably Owes Him a Lot”

Toto Wolff has recently opened up on the Michael Masi controversy and has talked about Masi’s close companion. The top executive of the German team is of the opinion that ex-race director Michael Masi is someone very close to Jonathan Wheatley.

Wolff believes the ‘wrong call’ made by Masi left Lewis Hamilton without the championship at the end of the race. Toto also expressed that Masi and Wheatley shares ‘bromance’ as the former race director called in to unlap the lapped cars.

Jonathan Wheatley is the current sporting director of the Red Bull Racing team. During the safety car period, Wheatley was on a call with Masi. Toto suspects that the Red Bull sporting director insisted the race director to make such a call. This, as the Mercedes top boss states, has given Max Verstappen an unfair advantage over Lewis Hamilton.

Talking about this, the Austrian boss conveyed, “Wheatley has done a good job. He managed to win over Masi. Not only in Abu Dhabi, but also before that, so Max probably owes him a lot.”

As Michael Masi has been sacked, Toto hasn’t spoken to him ever since. Talking about this, Wolff further asserted, “I never want to speak to him again.”

Read More: Toto Wolff Refuses to Sympathise With Michael Masi After His Firing

What happened at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

In the final race of 2021, Lewis Hamilton was leading the race from Max Verstappen. Moreover, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed against the barrier. Masi called in the safety car to remove the debris. Meanwhile, Verstappen pitted to change his tires. Michael called the lapped cars to unlap themselves to set the grid position.

As Masi called in the safety car, Verstappen was right behind Hamilton with fresher tires. When the race resumed, Max overtook Lewis to claim his maiden F1 title. Lewis later called the decision as ‘manipulated.’

Watch This Story: Rihanna’s Relationship With F1 Star Lewis Hamilton Over The Years

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix event has attracted huge controversies. Team Mercedes immediately presented their pleas against the event to the FIA. There was huge outrage regarding the call by Masi. The governing body decided to hold a commission meeting and decided to sack Masi as the race director.