Google News Toto Wolff on Michael Masi: He was just immune to any feedback
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In an interview with the Press Association, Toto Wolff spoke openly about what he said to Masi before the race, and of course the wounds from last season still hurt Wolff and the team. "It is quite interesting because I had lunch with him [Masi] on the Wednesday before the race, and I said to him that 'I really want to tell you, without patronising you, that you need to take criticism on board and develop from there.
"Lewis does it every day, but you are the guy who always seems to know better'," Wolff said, as quoted by motorsport "It wasn't about influencing him but really giving my honest feedback that he shouldn't block outside opinion as simply being wrong."
Toto Wolff thinks that Masi is too narcissistic and does not want to admit the mistakes he makes.
There will be a lot of talk about the incident in Abu Dhabi and Masi's move.
Wolff on Masi
Mercedes will certainly never forget such an ending, and that could leave consequences for them this season as well. "You hear from the drivers and how the drivers' briefings were conducted [by Masi] and some of the guys said it was almost disrespectful how he treated some of them," added Wolff.
"There is a promoter of one of the races in the Middle East who said he was so relieved he had gone because he got so much abuse from him. "He was just immune to any feedback and even today he has not properly reflected that he did something wrong.
"He was a liability for the sport because everybody kept talking about Abu Dhabi and the race director, and the race director should not be somebody that people talk about, but someone who does the job and makes sure the race is run according to the regulations." New race director Niels Wittich has done a great job so far, which Wolff himself confirmed.
At Mercedes, they are happy with him and his assessments. However, only one mistake could change the opinion of everyone within the team. "How he has run the first few races has been respectful, solid and he hasn't put a single foot wrong," said Wolff.
"But is that [jewellery ban] a battle he needs to have at this stage? However, if it turns out to be the biggest unfortunate misstep of a race director, I would take it a thousand times over." The season is long, and there is a lot of room for mistakes, but we hope that there will be as few of them as possible.