Christian Horner says he pressured Masi in Abu Dhabi title decider
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 21, 2026
Horner memoir admission
Horner says he pressed Masi to restart the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the title fight reached its closing laps, and he now puts that push in writing in his memoir, *Drive*. Horner says he deliberately leaned on the race director during a finish that decided the Formula 1 championship between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The late stages followed Nicholas Latifi’s crash and the resulting safety car, and Horner says he made his position clear as the race slowed and strategy took over. He wrote that he urged Masi to get things moving and clear the lapped cars out of the way, telling him, “Come on, Michael, we need to get this race going.” That line is part of Horner’s account of the finish. Horner’s account adds another layer to an event that changed the championship picture in the final moments and put the race director’s decisions under scrutiny. Horner’s memoir now puts his own role into that story, and he says he applied pressure late in the race. He did not describe that pressure as an attempt to bend the rules. He framed it as an effort to get the race back under way and settle the championship on the track.
Abu Dhabi restart
Hamilton was leading late when the safety car came out, and Verstappen had fresher tires behind him. Verstappen also sat behind five lapped cars before the restart, a detail that shaped the tension around the final call. Masi allowed only the cars between Verstappen and Hamilton to unlap themselves before the race resumed, and the race was restarted with one lap remaining. That sequence set up a final-lap showdown that Verstappen won. He passed Hamilton on the last lap and claimed his first world championship. The restart changed the shape of the closing sprint and gave Verstappen a shot at the lead after the safety car period. Horner’s version of events in *Drive* accepts the heat of the moment and the pressure around the decision. He said there was enough time to let all of the lapped cars through, a view that shows he believed the field could have been cleared more completely before green flag racing returned. Even so, he said Masi’s decision was within Masi’s remit. That line matters because it separates his criticism of the sequence from any claim that the race director had no authority to act as he did. The facts around the restart are plain. A crash slowed the race, the safety car reshuffled the field, and Masi’s call created a one-lap shootout that Verstappen turned into a championship-winning move.
Mercedes protest fallout
Mercedes protested the result after the race. The finish drew attention because the title changed hands in the final lap after the safety car decision and the partial unlapping of the cars. Horner’s memoir revisits that aftermath from Red Bull’s side and repeats his view that the team did nothing wrong. He says the decision was Masi’s to make, and he stands by the outcome. Horner also said that during the season he realized Toto Wolff had been speaking directly to Masi, a detail that adds another layer to the pressure surrounding race control. That exchange, in Horner’s telling, showed how closely the leading figures around the championship engaged with the race director as the title battle intensified. Masi was removed by the FIA before the 2022 season, and the race that decided Verstappen’s first championship has remained associated with the dispute over the finish. Horner’s comments do not soften the impact of the finish. They confirm how much was at stake and how strongly the leading figures around the championship pushed their positions. In his version, Red Bull did nothing wrong and Masi acted within his power. The race itself ended with Verstappen on top, Hamilton denied at the last step and Mercedes taking its protest to the post-race stage.
