Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed he urged former FIA Formula 1 race director Michael Masi to take criticism of his approach on board ahead of last year’s controversial title-decider in Abu Dhabi.
Masi was replaced as race director due to his mishandling of the finale. An FIA inquiry found he failed to adhere to its regulations in arranging a final-lap restart of the race, following which Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton to win the world championship.
Wolff revealed he spoke to Masi before the event about the feedback he’d been given over several controversial decisions earlier in the year.
“I had lunch with him on the Wednesday before the race,” Wolff told the Press Association, “and I said to him that ‘I really want to tell you, without patronising you, that you need to take criticism on board and develop from there. Lewis does it every day, but you are a guy who always seems to know better’.
“It wasn’t about influencing him but really giving my…