F1: Masi received DEATH threats from Hamilton fans

Axed race director Michael Masi revealed he had received online death threats after the controversy last year that allowed Max Verstappen to claim the Formula One world title.

The Australian changed the safety car re-start procedure at the end of the December’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a move that allowed Max Verstappen to pass Lewis Hamilton on the last lap, denying Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton a record eighth title in the process.

‘There were some dark days,’ Masi told News Corp on Sunday. ‘And 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.’

‘I 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,’ he added.

‘I was looking at people wondering if they were going to get me.’

Masi not only faced the fury of Mercedes but F1 fans too as he became the subject of a torrent of abuse on social media.

‘They were shocking,’ Masi said of messages he received on Facebook. ‘Racist, abusive, vile, they called me every name under the sun.

‘And they kept on coming. Not just on my Facebook but also on my LinkedIn, which is supposed to be a professional platform for business. It was the same type of abuse.’

‘I didn’t go and talk to a professional. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have,’ he said, adding that the FIA was aware of the abuse, ‘but I think I downplayed it all to everyone including them’.

‘I didn’t want to talk to anyone,’ he added.

‘Not even family and friends. I only talked to my close family – but very briefly.

‘It did have a physical impact, but it was more mental. I just wanted to be in a bubble. I had no desire to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone, which was very challenging.

‘The whole experience has made me a much stronger person,’ he added.