Wolff in favour of banning F1 team bosses from radio chat

Toto Wolff believes that in light of this year's events, F1's team bosses should no longer be given a direct radio access to the FIA's race director in the future.

This year's F1 season finale and title decider in Abu Dhabi was marked by a dramatic turn of events in the race's last five laps when a safety car and a controversial restart with one lap to go turned the race on its head and handed the title to Max Verstappen to the detriment of Lewis Hamilton.

The final minutes of the gripping showdown saw several interventions by Wolff and his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner, with both men pressuring over the radio race director Michael Masi and calling for the latter to take a course of action that would most favour their team.

While it was routine during the season for Ron Meadows and Jonathan Wheatly, the respective sporting directors of Mercedes and Red Bull, to inquire with Masi over specific incidents or events, tensions and controversy often compelled Wolff and Horner to chime in over the airwaves on race day.

After last week's dramatic season finale, F1 managing director Ross Brawn advocated for team bosses to be banned from communicating during a race with the FIA's race director.

Wolff, who was among those who initially encouraged opening F1's airwaves to the public, believes Brawn is right.

"I agree with Ross," said the Mercedes F1 and co-team owner. "But I equally blame Ross and myself because we have been part of the decision making to broadcast more of the channels for the purpose of transparency and entertainment for the fans.

"There is so much going on on the intercom that giving fans a little bit of an overview of all the little dramas that happen, like is the car breaking down, are we having some kind of strategy discussions, was meant well. But I think we overshot.

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"I need to take myself by the nose, and Christian [Horner]. We were given the opportunity to talk to the race director directly, and because we fight so fiercely for the interests of our teams, all of us overstepped.

"It certainly was part of the failures this year that under pressure from the team principals also the race director’s life wasn’t made easier, certainly."

While Wolff would welcome a radio communication ban on team bosses in the future, the Austrian also suggests putting restrictions on any lobbying attempts by a team's sporting director.

"I think that the team principal shouldn’t speak directly to the race director," he said. "It should be the sporting directors.

"I would even go one step further. I don’t think that the sporting director should be lobbying the race director or exercising pressure.

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