FORMULA ONE
20227Two new race directors will be in place
at alternate grands prix this season after
Michael Masi, the man responsible for
the controversy at the climax of last
season’s finale in Abu Dhabi, was sacked.
The Australian, who had been in the
role since 2019, ordered only the lapped
cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max
Verstappen through under the safety car
on the final lap in the United Arab
Emirates, which gave the Dutchman the
opportunity to pass his British rival andMeet new race directors looking to swerve more controversy
lap, in which he ran the championship
contender, Liam Lawson, off the track.
The penalty was only half of that given
to Hamilton for his collision with
Verstappen at Silverstone last year.
Freitas is a Portuguese motorsports
official with 40 years’ experience as a
race official — with 20 as a race director
— who first worked as a track inspector
in 1970. He has been a director for a
variety of championships, including FIA
Gran Turismo, the European Touring
Car Championship, the European and
Asian Le Mans series, and the World
Endurance Championships.
Advising the pair will be Michael“Herbie” Blash. The 73-year-old was
assistant race director under Charlie
Whiting, whose death on the eve of the
2019 season thrust Masi into the top job.
Teams’ questions to the race directors
will likely be filtered through Blash.
Blash’s career began in 1968 as the
No 2 mechanic for Lotus. He was
nicknamed “Herbie” by founder Colin
Chapman. “I was refilling the gearbox
with oil but I’d forgotten to put the drain
plug back in and I poured oil all over
Colin’s new Hush Puppy suede shoes,”
Blash once explained. “He said, ‘My God
you’re a proper Herbert, aren’t you!’
After that it just stuck.”win his maiden world championship.
Masi had also brought in the safety car a
lap earlier than stated in the regulations.
The responsibility for ensuring all
teams and drivers conform to the FIA
regulations at race weekends now falls to
Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.
German-born Wittich, who has spent
20 years in motorsports, previously held
the position of race director for
Germany’s DTM series and Formula E.
There was plenty of controversy in
October’s DTM finale when Kelvin van
der Linde, the South African driver, was
only given a five-second penalty for an
overly aggressive attack on the openingELLIE MCDONALDWittich is one of two race
directors replacing MasiConcussion testing
Another talking point from testing was
“porpoising,” where the cars violently
bounce up and down on the straights
because of an aerodynamic effect, and
Hill wants to see an investigation into
the impact on the drivers and whether or
not it could cause concussion.
“At the end of the grand prix, you’re
going to be a bit concussed from being
shaken around like that,” he said. “They
should do some studies because the
bouncing you get for two hours, you’re
probably slightly punch drunk at the end
of it. When you try and get a word out of
them [drivers] at the end of the race,
they’re not very communicative. I have
actually wondered if they’re slightly
concussed. You are literally banging your
head against the headrest.”Two in a row for Max?
With Red Bull looking so dominant in
testing, Hill believes they could end
Mercedes’ eight years of dominance in
the constructors’ championship, while
Verstappen could be heading towards
back-to-back titles. “I’m probably going
to go with Red Bull at the moment,” Hill
said. “They’ve got a solid looking
package. I think there’s a strong chance
of Max [retaining the title].”D
amon Hill does not expect
Max Verstappen to change
his “uncompromising” racing
style just because he has won
his first world championship,
but he does believe that the pressure is
now off the Dutchman.
Verstappen, 24, has developed a
reputation as an aggressive driver. Last
year, he was penalised several times for
his actions on the track but despite that
he still claimed a maiden world title,
fending off the challenge of Lewis
Hamilton. Hill, who claimed the title in
1996, said Verstappen will feel more
relaxed this season. “I think winning a
championship definitely takes the
pressure off,” he said. “The intensity to
get your hands on that trophy, when
you’ve never had your hands on it...
every driver knows that’s the mark.
That’s the defining difference between
you and the rest of the poor souls who
are trying to get it, so to have it is a big
load off your mind.”
The mindset may change but Hill does
not expect Verstappen to alter his
approach. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a fan of
some of his moves. He is aggressive and
uncompromising,” Hill said. “I don’t
know if a leopard can ever change their
spots. Last year, the problem was the way
the races were policed. I don’t know if
he’ll change his style; it’s down to how
the race stewards manage it now.”Confidence high at Red Bull
Red Bull looked to be the dominant team
after six days of testing, so Verstappen
may enjoy a better start to the season
compared to last year, when Mercedes
won three of the first four races.
“Adrian [Newey, the Red Bull chief
designer] looked pretty content,” Hill
said. “He doesn’t generally hop around
and joke. You know when he’s not happy,
he’s got a massive frown on his face and
he looks perplexed all the time, but it
looks like the bits they brought in for the
last bit of the test settled the car down
and Max could do what he liked with it.
“But we don’t know. It’s too early to
say, that’s the truth.”Russell is here to win
Hamilton has said that he does not
expect Mercedes to be competing for
race wins early in the season, as both he
and his team-mate, George Russell,
struggled with the car in testing.
Hill described the Mercedes as
“looking like a bit of a handful” but he
expects the team to find a fix, and hedoesn’t just expect Hamilton to be
chasing victories — he thinks Russell,
24, will be pushing for the top step on
the podium too.
“I don’t think Lewis would expect him
to settle in as a wingman,” Hill said of
Russell, who has joined Mercedes from
Williams. “Lewis is a racing driver, he
understands George and his ambitions.
George clearly understands the team
ethos, and I can’t imagine he’ll be
antagonistic or problematic. But he’s a
competitor, and ambition can sometimes
get the better of you.
“I’m sure we’ll see him win a race or
even a couple of races — maybe more.”Brits breaking through
The excitement for British fans this
season will be that there could be three
Britons fighting for podium places, as
Lando Norris’s stock seems to be
growing by the week after an impressive
three seasons with McLaren.
“We have been very, very lucky in this
country,” Hill said. “We’ve always
managed to find someone who’s got
what it takes. We don’t know how many
years Lewis will crack on for. He seems
refreshed after Abu Dhabi [last season’s
finale] and is up for the battle, but we’ll
see how he feels at the end of this year.”Russell is a competitive,
talented driver who will
be determined to win
some races during his
debut season at
Mercedes, as well as
support Hamilton‘Russell won’t just be a wingman’
Damon Hill says promise
of new team-mate and a
fired-up Verstappen both
pose threat to Hamilton,
writes Rebecca Clancy
BRITISH RECORD IN FORMULA ONE307
Wins719
Podiums290
Pole positions252
Fastest lapsMost wins by nationalityBritish wins by decadeBritish race winnersUKGermanyBrazilFranceFinland30717923
61
2851192519811018157Lewis Hamilton
Nigel Mansell
Jackie Stewart
Jim Clark
Damon Hill
Stirling Moss
Jenson Button
Graham Hill
David Coulthard
James Hunt
Tony Brooks
John Surtees
John Watson
Eddie Irvine
Mike Hawthorn
Peter Collins
Johnny Herbert
Innes Ireland
Peter Gethin1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020sBritish world champions
Lewis Hamilton
(2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
Jackie Stewart
(1969, 1971, 1973)
Jim Clark
(1963, 1965)
Graham Hill
(1962, 1968)
Mike Hawthorn
(1958)
John Surtees
(1964)
James Hunt
(1976)
Nigel Mansell
(1992)
Damon Hill
(1996)
Jenson Button
(2009)7 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1103
31
27
25
22
16
15
14
13
10
6 6 5 4 3 1133LARS BARON/GETTY IMAGES