Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has been warned that, if he is pushing for the sacking of Michael Masi, he needs to have a suitable replacement in mind.
Masi left Sir Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team seething last month after a controversial, late ruling at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix allowed Max Verstappen to win that year’s Drivers’ Championship.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Mercedes had agreed a “quid pro quo” with the FIA that will result in the Australian being replaced as race director prior to the 2022 Formula 1 season commencing in March. However, the Silver Arrows have reportedly denied striking any such deal with the FIA.
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Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has warned that Masi is now on thin ice following his highly controversial handling of the ending of the season finale, but stressed that firing him might not be so easy.
“If the FIA and F1 want Michael Masi to stay, and if Michael Masi wants to stay, he’s clearly only got one life left, hasn’t he? So I don’t know if that’s tenable all round,” Brundle said on Sky’s F1 show.
“Who would you replace him with? Be careful what you wish for, I would say in this. What I absolutely know for sure is that changing Michael Masi will not fix the problem,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sky F1 commentator David Croft said that Wolff needs to have a replacement in mind, should he be pushing for Masi’s removal as race director.
“In terms of ‘get rid of Michael Masi’, if that’s Toto Wolff’s belief, you’ve got to have someone ready to bring in and I don’t think that person is there as it stands at the moment,” Croft opined.
The FIA will conclude their investigation into the controversial events of the season finale in the UAE capital on 18 March, just two days before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
READ: Toto Wolff reveals he considered quitting Formula 1 after feeling ‘burnt out’
Hamilton’s future in Formula 1 remains unclear, despite him being under contract to race with Mercedes in 2022.
Wolff, for his part, has offered no assurances that the seven-time world champion will race in this upcoming season, admitting that he and the broader Mercedes team are currently “disillusioned” with Formula 1.
Should he return, Hamilton will be partnered by George Russell at Mercedes, who has joined the Silver Arrows from Williams for 2022.
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