Formula 1 set to shut out team bosses from FIA radio!

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Formula 1's managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn is in favour of barring team bosses from communicating directly with FIA race director Michael Masi during Grands Prix in 2022.

This year's tumultuous season featured several instances when which Red Bull and Mercedes team bosses intervened over the airwaves to appeal to Masi regarding a specific event or incident.

Last weekend's dramatic showdown in Abu Dhabi was marked by several in-race radio messages to race control from the two teams' pitwall.

The first corner tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen triggered several communication queries from Red Bull's Jonathan Wheatley and Mercedes sporting boss Ron Meadows, with both teams arguing a case in favour of their respective driver.

Later in the race, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff implored Masi not to deploy the safety car when Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo was stranded on the side of the track.

But the chatter and two-way conversations ramped up during the race's late safety car period when confusion emerged over the fate of the lapped cars positioned between Hamilton and Verstappen.

Horner questioned the already under-pressure Masi about why the cars were not waved through as the rules allow, while Wolff, as the action was undertaken, lost his cool and lambasted the race director, yelling "Michael! No, Michael! No! No, Michael! That was so not right!"

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Speaking to German publication, Auto Motor und Sport, Brawn said that Horner and Wolff's interventions were unacceptable.

"It is not acceptable that the team bosses put Michael under such pressure during the race," Brawn said.

"Toto Wolff cannot demand that a safety car should not come, and Christian Horner cannot demand that the cars have to lap back.

"That is at the discretion of the race director. We will stop this contact next year."

©Formula1

Brawn equated the interferences to "a football coach negotiating with the referee".

The F1 chief saluted Masi's call to release the field for one final lap, but lamented Mercedes' post-race protests.

"The decision in the last lap is a highlight that can't be topped," added Brawn.

"Unfortunately, the protest takes the shine from the finale a bit."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.