Max Verstappen has responded to George Russell's claim that former F1 race director Michael Masi would be "fearing for his life" if there was a role reversal of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Masi's actions as race director in dealing with a late safety car restart period in the title showdown between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were controversial after they appeared to break long-established restart procedures, specifically with lapped cars overtaking and the restart of the race. Verstappen overtook Hamilton on fresh soft tyres to win the race and championship, but Masi was removed as race director following an FIA investigation which found human-error as the cause. When Russell's words were put to Verstappen about Masi's life potentially being under-threat if the Dutchman had lost the title in the manner Hamilton did, the four-time world champion scoffed. "He cites a lot of things you can't rely on, right? Things like that, where does that make sense?," he told select media including RacingNews365. "So things like that happen with the stewards, too. He insinuates a lot of things that make absolutely no sense at all, but of course, he uses them in his words." "It wasn't that dramatic, but maybe next time it will be. We have to take that into account, of course. I'll bring my tissues next time. "It's just about how he was with the stewards. It has nothing to do with anything else. I was very relaxed. "Look, I had already just won my championship, only he had to be so dramatic to try to start first. He was screaming to try to get a spot ahead and for him that might matter a lot."
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