F1 News: Michael Masi Reveals 2021 Abu Dhabi GP had a "Mental" Impact on him
Micheal Masi, the race director of the F1 for the controversial 2021 season, has revealed that the backlash of that moment has left a "mental" and "physical" impact.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a large moment for the sport as Masi instructed only the cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to un-lap themselves. This allowed Verstappen to take the win, and therefore his first championship, leaving Hamilton with the heartache of losing out on his 8th world championship because of a rule break.
Now, Masi has admitted that he also suffered from this day, revealing that he just "wanted to be in a bubble".
Talking to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, he said:
“I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
“Not even family and friends. I only talked to my close family but very briefly. It did have a physical impact, but it was more mental.
“I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone, which was very challenging.
“The whole experience has made me a much stronger person."
This wasn't F1's last controversial moment, with it later being revealed that Red Bull breached the 2021 cost cap by £1.86m. Fortunately for Masi, he'd been removed as race director at this point so didn't receive backlash.