One of the most curious and criticized situations of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the conversation between Michael Masi and Jonathan Wheatley regarding the position of Max Verstappen in the third start of the race.
Much has been said about how to manage the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of Michael Masi, race director in Formula 1 and who accumulates more and more criticism about his work.
The Australian made many controversial decisions in Jeddah, but the one that attracted the most attention was the negotiation with Red Bull over the position of Max verstappen once the race was resumed for the third time.
“I wouldn’t call it an agreement from a race director’s perspective, I don’t have the authority to instruct teams to do anything in that situation.”
On the television broadcast, you could hear Michael Masi discussing Verstappen’s starting position for the upcoming restart with Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.
“I am going to give them the opportunity to start from position two on the grid (later corrected to three), based on what happened in Turns 1 and 2. We would leave you behind Hamilton. That’s my offer. You have my suggestion »Masi told Wheatley.
Something that was criticized by many, including Helmut Marko, who compared Formula 1 to a market. Later, Masi defended his way of managing the situation.
“I would not call it an agreement from the perspective of a race director, I do not have the authority to instruct the teams to do anything in that situation,” he began by saying. «I can pass on an offer to you, I have the ability to do that, but the choice is yours. Stewards are obviously empowered to sanction, but I can give you my perspective. That is why I offered them the possibility to resign from that position.
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It’s largely a normal discussion. When I saw what happened at Turn 2, I immediately suggested to the stewards that I was going to give Red Bull a chance to return that position. “, insisted Masi, who was also criticized for the management of the incidents on the track, with several periods of safety car and red flags.
“The red flag obviously came about very quickly and it became absolutely the priority before we got going again. With the race suspended, we had the ability to correct that effectively before racing again., reiterated in relation to Verstappen’s position after overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the outside at Turn 2.
“It is a very normal discussion that occurs regularly on several occasions and has taken place throughout the year, and before.”, settled.