Masi says he feared for his life after his call cost Hamilton title in last season\u2019s finale
\n SYDNEY
\nAxed Formula One race director Michael Masi Sunday revealed he was bombarded with \u201cvile\u201d abuse and death threats after his stunning call that cost Lewis Hamilton an eighth world title.
\nThe 44-year-old was removed from the high-profile job over his management of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year and quit the sport\u2019s governing body FIA this month to return home to Australia.
\nHe told Sydney\u2019s Daily Telegraph he feared for his life after the sequence of events that led to Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen passing Hamilton to deprive the Mercedes star of another crown.
\n\u201cThere were some dark days,\u201d Masi said in his first substantive interview since.
\n\u201cAnd absolutely, I felt like I was the most hated man in the world. I got death threats. People saying, they were going to come after me and my family.
\n\u201cI still remember walking down the street in London a day or two later. I thought I was OK until I started looking over my shoulder,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cI was looking at people wondering if they were going to get me.\u201d
\nMasi called in the safety car for the final lap in Abu Dhabi, then controversially allowed the backmarkers between race leader Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.
\nThat led to a one-lap shoot-out between the Briton and the Dutchman, who with fresh tyres on his Red Bull car had a huge advantage which he exploited to pick off Hamilton and seal the title.
\nMercedes and Red Bull had both put pressure on Masi to make decisions which would have helped their driver, with the former left incensed as they believed he followed their rivals\u2019 suggestions.
\nThey threatened legal action with Hamilton so disillusioned there were fears he would walk away from the sport.
\nMasi can\u2019t talk about the decision due to non-disclosure agreements with the FIA, the newspaper reported, but he said the following months were hellish.
\n\u201cI was confronted with hundreds of messages,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cAnd they were shocking. Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun. And there were death threats.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Masi says he feared for his life after his call cost Hamilton title in last season\u2019s finale SYDNEY Axed Formula One race director Michael Masi Sunday revealed he was bombarded with \u201cvile\u201d abuse and death threats after his stunning call that cost Lewis Hamilton an eighth world title. The 44-year-old was removed from the high-profile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-274920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n