Michael Masi has responded to Fernando Alonso criticising the FIA after the US GP, saying that the decision against him was a tough one.
Alonso was not happy with the stewards for their judgment of his battle with Kimi Raikkonen. The FIA allowed the Alfa Romeo driver to keep the position he gained by going off the track against Alonso, and he cried foul.
The Alpine driver was defending against Raikkonen into Turn 1, and squeezed him off the track. Raikkonen came back and took the position, and the Spaniard was not impressed with it. He went on to the FIA, something he has been doing repeatedly for the last few weeks.
Masi responded to Alonso criticising the FIA after the US GP, and said that it was hard to make the decision they did.
“I can understand his frustration. I haven’t heard his frustration, but I can understand it,” Masi said, as quoted by GP Fans.
“The call between him and Kimi at turn one was certainly marginal, and we’ll have a discussion about it with all the drivers at the next drivers’ meeting because there were two parts to the story, let’s call it.
“Obviously, the overtake and the forcing off track, and then the subsequent element of the overtake, so it’s something we’ll discuss as a group at the next meeting.”
Two sides of the coin
When asked if the decision was determining who pushed whom off the track, Masi replied, “Correct. You’ve hit the nail on the head.
“That’s why it was a marginal call. There were obviously the two elements of it that were looked at, and on that basis, marginally they made the decision ‘let’s just leave it as it is.’ It will no doubt be discussed at the next drivers’ meeting.”
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