‘Greatest champion’ Lewis Hamilton record destroyed as Wolff recalls ‘lunatic’ Masi

Toto Wolff said he had not experienced the “loss of control of a situation” since childhood, yet, that changed in the Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen title showdown.

That 2021 championship decider in Abu Dhabi will forever be remembered as one of the most controversial races in Formula 1 history, and the stance of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff towards then FIA race director Michael Masi has not softened.

Lewis Hamilton record ‘destroyed’ by ‘lunatic’ Michael Masi

A “lunatic” is how Wolff described Masi in a new interview with The Telegraph, someone who Wolff says robbed Hamilton, “the greatest champion of all time”, of his record.

Hamilton and Verstappen treated us to one of the most iconic championship battles in Formula 1 history in 2021. It was a season of thrilling wheel-to-wheel combat, polarising collisions, and tension which spread throughout the Mercedes and Red Bull camps.

It all came to a head in Abu Dhabi, where it looked as though Hamilton was on his way to a record eighth World Championship. But, that entire story was flipped on its head by a late Safety Car, and Masi’s controversial interpretation of the rules. The end result was Verstappen winning his first title.

Wolff had “not experienced the loss of control of a situation since I was a child”, but that changed in this moment. There were question marks over whether Hamilton would ever return to Formula 1 after that season, one which soon after Masi departed the F1 race director role.

Hamilton did come back, though has been unable to challenge again for that record eighth crown since.

“There is one lunatic who can basically destroy the record of the greatest champion of all time,” said Wolff in a fresh shot aimed at Masi.

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Hamilton left Mercedes at the end of 2024 to begin a new chapter with Ferrari. That move is yet to engineer a return to title-contending ways, while Mercedes has also been left on the outside looking in as Verstappen strives to deny McLaren the title double.

The fact that McLaren has won back-to-back Constructors’ titles, and remains favourite to win the F1 2025 Drivers’ crown via either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, is something which Wolff cannot pretend does not sting.

“Somebody else is collecting the trophies at the end of the season, and that hurts.”

McLaren has done all this with the Mercedes engine in the back of their car.

Should Norris or Piastri win the F1 2025 crown, it would be a first World Championship. Norris ended Piastri’s extensive tenure at the top of the standings with a dominant win in Mexico, but despite Piastri losing P1 having fallen into a performance rut, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella gave fresh hope.

“I think both Lando and Oscar go into the final four races with reasons to be confident,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Mexico, “and I think the team also, going to the final four races with more understanding of how to extract performance from the car consistently.

“Because over the last few races before Mexico, at times, we have left some performance in the garage.”

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

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