Having seen HAM’s onboard of the incident again, VES isn’t exactly being predictable. He starts off right then moves to the middle and is making small movements to his direction. Red Bull were naughty too suggesting he use the DRS to get back in front immediately after giving up the place. The same can be said of VES when he gave up the place just before the final corner then immediately dived up the inside to take it back. It’s supposed to be a full surrender of the position, something HAM learned back in Spa all those years ago.
With that in mind, it was no surprise when HAM got the position given to him again on the final corner that he made sure he ran Max wide on the outside. It was a surprise however for Masi to radio Mercedes and strongly condemn the move and say it was a borderline black/white flag. Come consistency please guys…
I’m on the fence with Masi. Like Charlie was, he’s a gently spoken chap, but we never had the access we do now to hear how Charlie managed situations like this. But I agree it can feel like Masi is out of his depth at times. It didn’t help his case forgetting about Ocon. I’m not a fan of this FIA meddling that they’ve been doing. The whole bartering thing during the red flag, negotiating with Red Bull and even worse the chatter about giving the place back during the race. In fact, if Masi just referred the incident to the stewards instead of getting involved, that collision wouldn’t have happened.