Masi caused some surprise at the Jeddah circuit on Sunday when, during the second red flag period, he offered Red Bull the choice of grid slot for Max Verstappen.
With the Dutch driver having been deemed to have gained an unfair advantage when he overtook Hamilton off track at the first corner, Masi gave Red Bull the opportunity to take third or stick with pole.
If the team had decided to keep the top spot, then Masi would have passed Verstappen’s off-track overtake to the stewards – which could have resulted in a penalty.
The nature of Masi’s grid offer discussion has been described as ‘surreal’ by other teams, while Red Bull chief Christian Horner said it felt like something out of the ‘souk’. (Motorsport)
