Toto Wolff has said Michael Masi was swayed by Jonathan Wheatley last season

Speaking on Sky Sports‘ documentary on the 2021 Formula 1 season; Duel, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has alleged that Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley managed to turn Michael Masi and that led to Max Verstappen’s controversial title win in Abu Dhabi.

The 2022 season is now close at hand with Bahrain testing this weekend and the Bahrain Grand Prix the weekend after it.

Indeed, it does feel as though it is time to move on from the drama of Abu Dhabi back in December and all of the key players in the fiasco have expressed their desire to do so.

Certainly, Wolff is included in that but the documentary, which aired for the first time on Sunday night, captured a time where the feeling was still raw amongst Mercedes and, indeed, the Austrian made some very bold claims over sporting director Wheatley and his relationship with Michael Masi.

Wolff claimed that something like a ‘bromance’ was struck up between the pair in the lead up to Abu Dhabi and that is what helped sway Masi to make his now infamous call for the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he only let cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen unlap themselves behind the Safety Car – an unprecedented move.

“Jonathan Wheatley has done his job,” Wolff said on the Sky programme.

“He’s turned Michael Masi the race director, not only in Abu Dhabi but before, and probably Max owes him a lot.”

Wolff also said on the programme he has had no contact with Masi and may never do so again:

“I haven’t spoken to him and I don’t want to speak to him ever again.”

“His decisions were wrong and I’m sure that he regrets them,” Wolff then continued. “The FIA should have seen much earlier that there was a problem. There was a problem with the structure. There