The reality behind the ‘new’ Abu Dhabi audio documentary

The audio clip shows Massey speaking to RBR Race Director Jonathan Whitley with five laps to go when the safety car for Williams’ Nicholas Latifi accident was out.

Massey famously unlawfully decided to only pass the safety car on those drivers who mediated between then-champion Lewis Hamilton and Max Ferstappen – who had fallen behind under the safety car after a pit stop – as well as exiting the safety car a lap early off the track.

This gave Ferstappen a chance to put in a final lap and, on his fresh soft tyres, easily get past Lewis Hamilton, who at the time had badly worn hard rubber to win the championship.

In the audio documentary, which has been circulating around the internet for several hours and is presented as new, Whitley can be heard saying to Macy: “You don’t want to be frustrated when you can’t get the pitch right, so invest in a good capo. All you have to do is release them, and then we’ll have a fight on our hands.

Massey then responds with the word “understood”, and this word provokes the most reactions. However, it should be noted that this word does not necessarily mean accepting a mandate from Masi. It’s a word he often uses to acknowledge that he has heard a message, without necessarily implying that he will accept or apply it.

“More complicated is the fact that Massey used similar words.”this is called a fight, we fight” reacted to Toto Wolf, CEO of Mercedes F1, when the Austrian told him what happened “it is not right”.

This conversation between Massey and Whitley was not broadcast live at the time, but was present from the start in the documents the FIA ​​​​was examining in its investigation into the events and decisions that judged the title of 2021 champion was published in a review Video captured posted by F1 itself four days after the Abu Dhabi GP.

Former F1 driver and British TV commentator Martin Bradl said: “This is not new news and we must understand that nothing has been said to Masi that he did not already know. Let’s not assume that [το μήνυμα του Ουίτλι] gave Massi information he didn’t yet know about what he could and couldn’t do about the cars that were on the road [και βρίσκονταν εκείνες τις στιγμές πίσω από το όχημα ασφαλείας].

The decisive rule for me that wasn’t implemented was that the safety car had to come into the pits on the next lap. But there is this unwritten rule that we have to do everything we can not to finish a race behind the safety car. It’s totally unacceptable. “Today’s audio doesn’t change the circumstantial narrative of everything that happened.” closed.

Meanwhile, four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has backed Massi, saying it is the rules and regulations of the sport that need to be changed, not the position of GP race director.

“It’s not easy to be in the referee’s position or in Michael’s position. But I think he did a great job.” said the German. “I don’t know what the future holds for him but I hope he stays with us. There shouldn’t be that much controversy over the last fight. In general, he did very well.”

The Aston Martin F1 driver concluded: “The key is to focus more on the sport than the show. I, who was in the race, was wondering why we didn’t restart sooner, but obviously there is a log. “In order to move forward, there must be clarity about what should happen in such situations and there must be no further questions.”