F1 to ban Toto Wolff and Christian Horner from pressuring race director during Grands Prix

F1 managing director of motor sports Ross Brawn says lined of communication between team chiefs and the race director will come to an end in 2022, after Michael Masi was increasingly put on the spot by Red Bull and Mercedes bosses.

The situation had already been a feature of the 2021 Formula One season, particularly in the run-in as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went head-to-head for the championship, but it was exacerbated by incidents in the finale at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.

Toto Wolff was incensed at Masi’s late call to allow the cars between Verstappen and Hamilton to unlap themselves to clear the way for a sprint finish, with the Red Bull racer won to claim the title, while Horner had previously been clamouring for the safety car to come out in a bid to close up the gap between the two drivers.

It all exerts undue influence on the race director, says Brawn, instead of leaving him free to make his own decisions on what should happen on the track.

“We will stop this contact next year,” he said, per Auto Motor und Sport.

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“It’s unacceptable that team bosses put Michael under such pressure during the race. It’s like the coaches negotiating with the referee in football.

“Toto can’t demand there shouldn’t be a Safety Car and Christian can’t demand the cars have to un-lap. That’s at the discretion of the race director.”

To continue Brawn’s comparison, it’s notable that managers on the touchline in football often interract with the fourth official rather than directly with the referee – raising the potential compromise in F1 whereby the team bosses do have access to an alternative senior figure, who is in turn in touch with the race director in case of any calls which need addressing.

Whether the race director will end up being Masi next season is seemingly up for discussion, however, as he has come under intense scrutiny and been widely criticised for his decision-making in Abu Dhabi – having apparently changed safety car protocols at the last minute for the decisive final lap.

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