Formula One: Former race director reveals death threats after Max Verstappen claimed title
- ‘I felt like I was the most hated man in the world,’ former F1 race director Michael Masi said in an interview
- The former F1 race director received death threats after his controversial decision allowed Max Verstappen to claim the Formula One title
Axed Formula One race director Michael Masi Sunday revealed he was bombarded with “vile” abuse and death threats after his stunning call that cost Lewis Hamilton an eighth world title.
The 44-year-old was removed from the high-profile job over his management of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year and quit the sport’s governing body FIA this month to return home to Australia.
He told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph he feared for his life after the sequence of events that led to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen passing Hamilton to deprive the Mercedes star of another crown.
“There were some dark days,” Masi said in his first substantive interview since. “And absolutely, I felt like I was the most hated man in the world. I got death threats. People said they were going to come after me and my family.
“I still remember walking down the street in London a day or two later. I thought I was OK until I started looking over my shoulder,” he added.
“I was looking at people wondering if they were going to get me.”
Masi called in the safety car for the final lap in Abu Dhabi, then controversially allowed the backmarkers between race leader Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.
That led to a one-lap shoot-out between the Briton and the Dutchman, who with fresh tyres on his Red Bull car had a huge advantage which he exploited to pick off Hamilton and seal the title.