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Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner believes race director Michael Masi did what Niki Lauda believed in, which is letting the drivers race. The Milton Keynes-based team's boss felt the stewards were right in overturning Mercedes’ protests after the race.
Speaking to the Daily Express UK, Horner said:
“We have talked about 'let them race'. [The late Mercedes non-executive chairman] Niki Lauda was the guy who pushed hard for it and we've always talked about not finishing races under safety cars. The race director in difficult circumstances made absolutely the right call.”
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Late triple champion Niki Lauda often called for the 'let them race' principle, where he believed steward penalties and decisions often hindered the quality of racing in the sport. Referring to the controversial last lap, Horner believes that the FIA Racing Director reiterated the same principle taking that decision.
While Michael Masi has been drawing flak for robbing Lewis Hamilton of his eighth title, Max Verstappen’s maiden title has been tainted with chaos and controversy questioning the integrity of the sport.
Red Bull F1 team believe the stewards' decisions in the Abu Dhabi GP were correct
According to the Red Bull F1 team boss, Mercedes had most of the steward decisions all year long, or even in the race, working in their favor. Horner said that Red Bull avoided having to face stewards after the F1 finale, however, Mercedes dragged them there anyway.
Describing their view on the stewards' decisions, Horner said:
“We never wanted to end up in front of the stewards. We don't go racing with barristers. It was a shame it ended up there but the stewards made the right call.”
Although Max Verstappen is currently world champion and the stewards dismissed all Mercedes protests, the sport in general and the racing director have drawn a lot of flak and public outcry over the last lap of the final race. While Mercedes have confirmed their intent to protest the decisions, there has been no further action from the team so far.
