Pink Bull workforce principal Christian Horner has stated he believes former F1 Race Director Michael Masi was eliminated resulting from stress from Mercedes, accusing the rival workforce of “bullying.”

Masi botched the end of the title decider between Pink Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton final yr. The race was settled by a one-lap dash, which noticed Verstappen move Hamilton to win the title after the security automotive restart guidelines had been incorrectly utilized by Masi.

1 Associated

Masi’s place has since been changed by an overhauled system of controlling and officiating F1 races.

“Was it proper to fireside him primarily based on stress that was positioned on him from a rival workforce? That for me was fallacious,” Horner instructed the BBC.

“That is tantamount to bullying. It is passively aggressive.”

When contacted by ESPN, Mercedes declined to remark.

The choice to take away Masi was seen successfully as an admission by the FIA that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix shouldn’t have been restarted in the way in which it was.

“Sure, Michael did make errors and it was irritating, however it’s a must to have a look at the position that he was in and the instruments that he had at his disposal,” Horner added.

“You’ll be able to’t simply place the blame on Michael. It is unfair to try this.”

The brand new F1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20.