'Michael Masi would be fearing for his life' if Max Verstappen lost the title in 2021 claims George Russell
Michael Masi’s decision to let the lap cars between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton through at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP and calling in the safety car with one lap to go arguably led to the most controversial title finish to any F1 season. George Russell has now come out and suggested that had the Dutchman been on the receiving end and lost the championship due to Masi’s order, the race steward “would be fearing for his life.”
At the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP, speaking to the media including Sportskeeda, Russell said:
“Lewis stood up to him [Max Verstappen] in 2021, and Lewis lost that championship unfairly. Could you imagine the roles being reversed? I mean, [Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life.
"And the way Lewis dealt with that championship fight, he was hard, he was aggressive, he was always respectful, and he never went beyond the line. I think he's been enabled, because no one has stood up to him. Lewis did in 2021, and lost unfairly.”
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff challenged the decisions made by the stewards at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP but no good came out of it. Russell's comments are possibly hinting at how the situations were dealt with within Red Bull and Mercedes. The Brackley outfit did not proceed with taking the matter to the international court and accepted the decision.
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen, on the other hand, are known to be of a rebellious nature. The Dutchman displayed it when he refused to let Checo through in Brazil after the Mexican deliberately crashed in Monaco. The nature is also visible in the comments made by him about Russell at last week's Qatar GP.
Russell arguably brought up the issue because of Verstappen's recent comments about him following the Brit's complaints at the 2024 Qatar GP. This was about the Dutchman driving slowly on the out lap and the fact that it is the Abu Dhabi GP weekend, where the incident took place.
George Russell gets back at Max Verstappen for the 2024 Qatar GP comments
Max Verstappen was given a one-place grid drop at the 2024 Qatar GP as he was driving unnecessarily slow on the out lap. George Russell complained about the same and the two went to see the stewards after the qualifying. The Dutchman, after the main race suggested that he “lost all respect” for Russell and that he was just trying to be the nice guy and let others pass.
Russell said, speaking to the media including Sportskeeda:
“It's funny because even before I said a word to the stewards, he was swearing at the stewards. He was so angry, before I'd even spoken. And at the end of the day, there's nothing to lie about.
“I do not see why he felt the need for this personal attack, and I'm not going to take it. I never had the intention to throw Max under the bus like this until he comes out and slams me so personally. This is not like I'm angry with Max. This is me just setting the record straight. I'm not going to stand here watching some guy slam me personally, as he has done.”
George Russell went on and suggested that Verstappen claimed to purposely crash into the Brit following the stewards' meeting. The Mercedes driver advised that someone needs to stand up against the Dutchman for this behavior until it's too late.