Did Red Bull’s reaction to Jeddah restart influence Michael Massey’s Abu Dhabi 2021 decision?

A respected Formula 1 analyst believes Red Bull’s aggressive reaction to Michael Masi’s handling of the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix influenced the former race director’s controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi. decision.

Massey’s Yas Marina a week ago marked one of the most divisive moments in F1 history and he was also criticized at the Jeddah street circuit in the penultimate race before the restart.

With Max Verstappen off the track to overtake Lewis Hamilton shortly before the red flag suspension, Massey gave Red Bull the chance to restart from third to avoid penalties in the race.

Massey’s unusual handling of situation despite team accepting offer considered an amateur Some in Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed this affected Verstappen’s tire choice for the restart in the race, which saw him finish second behind Hamilton.

That left Verstappen and Hamilton tied on points ahead of the final race, with the former winning his first world title after Masi appeared to break Formula 1’s own rules by finishing in the stands.

Speaking via his Twitch channelformer Williams and Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor claimed the origins of Massey’s Abu Dhabi decision could be found in Red Bull’s aggressiveness after the Jeddah race.

He said: “After [Saudi Arabia] Race Red Bull into Masi and say ‘this is unforgivable, make a decision, be decisive, it can’t happen again, this is nonsense’ and so on.

“It just occurred to me that that incident, and Red Bull’s response to Masi, didn’t happen in Saudi Arabia, maybe when they got into the penultimate lap of Abu Dhabi, when Red Bull came into Masi’s radio to restart the race , whether he would do that.

“Because it’s like, ‘We’ve got this relationship with Masi now, we’re really telling him what our opinion is’, and in the next game they say, ‘Yeah, that’s what we want you to do’ and he done.

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“If Lewis had raced against Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, maybe Ferrari wouldn’t have gotten into Massi on the penultimate lap in Abu Dhabi, etc. Would Ferrari have radioed to Massi?

“I think it was a chain of events from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi, the way Red Bull played in Saudi Arabia greatly influenced the decision Massey made later under pressure – Red Bull yelled at him – in Abu Dhabi.”

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