Masi: FIA not giving Red Bull preferential treatment in F1 wing saga

Lewis Hamilton was thrown out of F1 qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after failing a post-session check on Friday evening that found a technical infringement relating to Mercedes’ rear wing. 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff felt a “different modus operandi” was followed in the process that led to Hamilton’s disqualification and questioned why Red Bull was allowed to make repairs to its rear wing during qualifying at the previous race in Mexico. 

But Masi dismissed concerns about inconsistency when he spoke to media after Sunday’s race in Brazil. 

"All the reports that Jo [Bauer] sends out as our technical delegate, prior to the race, clearly explain either repairs or replacements that can happen under parc ferme conditions," Masi said.

"And that's clearly listed for everyone to read. So, from that perspective, yes, we have regular requests, at a sprint qualifying weekend it's obviously even more because of when parc ferme starts.

"So from our perspective, we treat every single request equally, consistently, look at every single one.

"The thing is, if we see that something is let's call it systematic with the team over a number of events, then we ask them to make permanent modifications to that part.

“So there's a whole lot of things that go into it. So no, I don't think there's any inconsistency at all.”

Masi insisted that all competitors are treated “equally and fairly” by the FIA at all times. 

"Every competitor, every driver, is treated equally and fairly at all times. Obviously, if you're on the receiving end of a penalty, I think everyone feels unfairly treated,” he added. “So that's part of being in the role that we are.”

Wolff declared “diplomacy is over” in its battle against Red Bull after the decisions that went against Mercedes at Interlagos. 

Masi believes the intense title battle between Mercedes and Red Bull has exacerbated drama both on and off the track. 

"It's battle for the lead of the race, a very tight and intense battle for the world championship,” Masi explained. "And I think everything that we've seen over this weekend between the two teams just adds into that mix.

“Once you have an intense championship battle you've got both drivers and teams, they will absolutely try and do anything and everything possible from their perspective to win, and understandably so.”