Christian Horner discloses fresh insights regarding the contentious 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Christian Horner's autobiography, Drive, opens with the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - a Formula 1 event that remains polarizing to this day. For the first time, the British team principal disclosed that he intentionally exerted pressure on Michael Masi to resume the race after Nicholas Latifi's crash in his Williams triggered a safety car.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen and then-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton went into the final race of the 2021 season tied on points. As the race neared its conclusion, Hamilton was in the lead, but a newly pitted Verstappen had fresh tyres and only five lapped cars separating them while following the safety car. Passing all five cars would prove challenging for the young Dutch driver.
“My heart sank,” Horner recounted. “That meant Max would have to overtake all five cars before reaching Lewis, which was unfeasible within one racing lap.
“I decided to increase the pressure on race control. ‘Come on, Michael, we need to get this race moving; why aren’t we clearing those lapped cars?’”
Masi, in a decision that sparked significant controversy, only allowed the cars between the two drivers to unlap and restarted the race with just one lap remaining. This decision ultimately enabled Verstappen to secure the championship by easily overtaking Hamilton on his new tyres. Masi was replaced for the 2022 season.
Horner discussed on the High Performance Podcast that he only realized that year, when radio communications to the race director started being aired, that Toto Wolff was communicating directly with Masi.
“Wait, that’s not right? You’re putting pressure on the official here,” Horner remarked. “So I told our team manager, ‘Get me on the line’, because I had never spoken to Charlie Whiting in 15 years during his tenure.”
He maintained that Red Bull had acted appropriately in the end.
“He made the call, which was within his authority, according to the regulations, but it had never been done before, allowing the cars between Max and Lewis to unlap,” Horner stated. “It wasn’t our doing, but we found ourselves in a position with this one lap to make a go for it, and if anyone can deliver under those conditions, it’s Max. What happened, happened.”
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