Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has added to the pressure that has been steadily building on Australian FIA race director Michael Masi over the past few weeks, saying the decision-making by Masi and race stewards in Saudi Arabia on Sunday was “very one-sided”. Marko, whose comments came ahead of this week’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, also claimed that Red Bull were “not treated the same” as rivals Mercedes.
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, criticised Masi following a chaotic race in Jeddah, saying the sport really “missed Charlie Whiting,” the FIA’s long-serving and much-respected race director, who died in 2019.
Lewis Hamilton’s third win in a row drew the Mercedes driver level on points with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heading to the Yas Marina circuit, setting up the prospect of a thrilling season finale. But the tension was palpable following the weekend’s error-strewn race, which involved two red flag periods, multiple high-speed crashes, and three different leaders.
Verstappen was twice ordered to give back positions he had gained off track. The Dutchman was also given two separate time penalties, one of five seconds, and a 10-second time penalty, applied post-race, for “sudden” and “erratic” braking on lap 37 when he slowed to allow Hamilton to pass him, causing the Mercedes driver to clip the back of his Red Bull.
Marko disputed nearly every decision made by the stewards. “Our engineers are preparing [evidence] that we can prove Max was constant with his braking,” he told the media. “He didn’t ‘brake-test’ like Hamilton said he did.
“Then he [Hamilton] crashed into our car. He unfortunately put two cuts in the rear tyre. That was so severe that we couldn’t attack anymore. We had to take speed out. That was the one thing. The next thing was at the second start, Hamilton was more than 10 [car] lengths behind [when the cars reassembled on the grid]. [Sebastian] Vettel got penalised in Budapest when he did it. But with this manoeuvre, he [Hamilton] was preparing his tyre better for the start. Then he pushed Max off [at the restart]: no reaction. So we feel we are not treated the same. It’s a very one-side tending decision-making here.”
Hamilton and Mercedes were furious with Verstappen during and after the race, with Hamilton describing the Dutchman as “crazy” and “over the limit” with his aggressive driving.
But Marko again disagreed. “I don’t think there is any reason why he should cool down,” he said. “It’s the match between Mercedes and Red Bull, and the match between Max and [Lewis].
