Lewis Hamilton hasn’t given any thought to the possibility of former FIA race director Michael Masi returning to Formula 1 in the future.
The Australian was removed from his position before the start of this season amid the fallout from last year’s finale in Abu Dhabi, where Masi’s “human error” in the handling of a late Safety Car played a role in Max Verstappen beating Hamilton to win the championship.
However, in a recent interview with the Daily Mail, new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said he was “open” to the idea of Masi working in F1 again.
The British newspaper then cited a source within Mercedes to claim the team would be “astonished” if that was to happen, particularly after team boss Toto Wolff had called him a “liability”.
“I only heard of that story a couple of days ago and I haven’t spoken to anyone [about it],” Hamilton said in response in Barcelona.
“Particularly, I haven’t done an interview with that newspaper [the Daily Mail] for at least 10 years.
“It’s inaccurate but I don’t have a particular feeling about it [Masi returning]. I’ve not given it any thought.
“I don’t know what Mohammed [ben Sulayem] has said. I don’t know his story, what his agenda is.”
While welcoming the FIA’s response to the events of Abu Dhabi, Hamilton’s relationship with the governing body hasn’t exactly improved under the new President and race directors this season.
In fact, the seven-time world champion is at risk of, at worst, being excluded from this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix over a jewellery dispute as a two-race exemption to remove a nose stud expires.