That unforgettable 2021 Formula 1 season delivered one of the most contentious climaxes in the history of the sport, as Max Verstappen snatched the world title away from Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi finale, according to Crash.net. Verstappen, running on fresher tyres, passed Hamilton after Masi rushed through the safety car restart and only allowed a handful of cars to unlap themselves. That late-race move denied Hamilton what would have been a record-breaking eighth world championship.
During the race, Horner and then Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley applied pressure on Masi to get the race going again. Horner was famously heard asking Masi over the radio before the restart, “Why aren’t we getting these lapped cars out of the way? You only need one racing lap.”
Now, Horner has admitted to directly pressurising Masi for the first time publicly in his new book, Drive. He documents how the cars crawled around the track and, when Max returned from the pit lane, the field had bunched up with five lapped cars separating him from Lewis. Following the removal of Nicholas Latifi’s buckled Williams and its shattered carbon fibre, initial instructions from race control stated that the cars dividing Max from Lewis would not have to unlap. Horner writes that his heart sank, realizing that Max would have to pass all five cars before getting to Lewis, which was impossible in one racing lap.
Facing what he felt was an unsatisfying conclusion to both the race and an entire season, Horner decided to apply more pressure on race control. He radioed Masi to urge him to get the race going, arguing that it would be a shame to end everything under a safety car and that the lapped cars should unlap so they could race.
Later, in an interview with the High Performance Podcast, Horner explained how radio lobbying escalated throughout the season. He noted that it only became apparent to him at Barcelona that year, when communications with the race director began to be broadcast, that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had been speaking directly to Michael Masi. Realizing the referee was under pressure, Horner instructed their team manager to get him on the line, contrasting it with his 15-year relationship with Charlie Whiting where he never spoke directly to the race director.
That lobbying intensified through a season featuring real flashpoints at Silverstone, Budapest, and Monza. When they reached that final race, Horner maintains they simply took their chances. Although the race director initially stated there would be no unlapped cars and then changed his mind, Horner defends the outcome. He notes that Masi made a decision within his remit as per the regulations, even though it had never been done before to allow only the cars between Max and Lewis to unlap. They were simply in a position to take a crack at it on that final lap, and as Horner puts it, what happened, happened.
