Toto Wolff’s Michael Masi burn as Max Verstappen FIA penalty criticised – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 20 Nov 2023 10:00 PM

Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen side-by-side.

Monday’s F1 news centres around fallout from Las Vegas, with reaction to the event still fresh from events on Saturday night on the Strip.

Toto Wolff could not resist a dig at the FIA’s former race director as the sport looks ahead to racing in Abu Dhabi again next weekend though, as the events of 2021 are still fresh on his mind.

Mercedes will have another driver in their car for FP1 too, as they confirmed Lewis Hamilton’s replacement in the cockpit for the first hour of running this weekend.

Toto Wolff digs at Michael Masi as F1 heads back to Abu Dhabi

It’s probably safe to say Toto Wolff still isn’t quite past the events of Abu Dhabi two years ago, and nor will he be, given the circumstances of how things unfolded for him and Mercedes that night.

The stakes may not be quite as high this time around with Mercedes and Ferrari only four points apart in the Constructors’ standings, but he couldn’t resist a swipe at the man overseeing the race on that evening back in 2021 nonetheless.

“We’re going there on pretty much equal points, we have a proper race director, so that should be fine,” Wolff told the media.

“Then let’s race, it’s all down to the last weekend.

“[Ferrari] are very quick, they’ve done a good job, I think we could have been on par [in Las Vegas], but the result shows something different so let’s race.”

Ted Kravitz disagrees with FIA over Max Verstappen penalty

Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz felt Max Verstappen’s penalty for forcing Charles Leclerc off track at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a harsh one, given he felt that kind of move at the start has happened before.

Verstappen ran wide of the apex at Turn 1 and went fully off-track, as did Leclerc, and was given a five-second penalty for it rather than being told to yield position.

“Now you can look at this two ways. The stewards decided to look at it in a way that merited a five-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track. I don’t know, I’ve kind of seen that before,” Kravitz said on his post-race Sky F1 programme, Ted’s Notebook.

“I sort of felt that that was sort of hard racing.

“What Red Bull should have done of course was say, ‘Look, you know what the stewards are like’ – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, they could give you a penalty for breaking wind these days – ‘What you need to do, Max, is give Charles the place back, wait a lap and then inevitably pass him again’. They didn’t do that.”

Science of ‘violent’ Lando Norris wall crash explained

After Lando Norris was taken to hospital for a horrible shunt with a concrete wall in Las Vegas, our On Track GP pundit, Le Mans winner Richard Bradley, was on hand to discuss how such a thing could have happened.

With the McLaren driver having driven over a large bump on the track, which his team boss wants ironed out ahead of next year’s race,

Our verdict: Las Vegas Grand Prix, hit or miss?

Our writers got their heads together to discuss whether or not the weekend in Las Vegas could be described as a success or not, given the amount of effort that went into preparing and marketing the event.

A huge amount was at stake for Formula 1 too, given that the sport played the duel role of being both sport and promoter for the first time.

Opinion was split among our team, so see if you agree with what they had to say on the matter.

Lewis Hamilton to sit out Abu Dhabi FP1

And finally, Mercedes will fulfil their second mandatory rookie FP1 session of the season when Frederik Vesti will take the wheel of the W14 once again in Abu Dhabi.

He did so with George Russell’s car back in Mexico, and Lewis Hamilton will sit out FP1 this time around so the 21-year-old Dane gets a chance at driving in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes junior Vesti said: “Driving in FP1 in Abu Dhabi is another step in my career. Getting my first experience of an official session on an F1 weekend in Mexico was a big moment.

“I learnt so much, and it was great being able to support the team and work with Lewis and George. I’m looking forward to building on that experience at Yas Marina.

“It’s a track I know well and that will no doubt make it easier to get up to speed in the one hour of practice. I’m extremely excited to get back behind-the-wheel of the W14 for FP1 and then the post-season test.

“Once again, I want to say a big thank you to the team for giving me this opportunity.”