Gunther Steiner feels ‘Lewis Hamilton would have won 8 F1 titles with Charlie Whiting and not Michael Masi”. Gunther Steiner feels FIA lost credibility was the death of Charlie Whiting in 2019.

(Gunther Steiner also) against the FIA
While the International Federation is facing criticism from many current and past drivers, triggered by Mohammed Ben Sulayem‘s anti-swearing crusade, Gunther Steiner returns to speak about one of the most controversial episodes in (recent and not only) Formula 1 history. The former Haas team principal, often critical of the stewards, has harshly condemned the decisions made by Michael Masi in the infamous final laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.

The new book *Unfiltered*
In the first excerpts of his new book *Unfiltered*, the South Tyrolean manager—who has won an initial legal battle against Gene Haas for the rights to his first autobiography *Surviving to Drive*—criticizes the FIA, accusing it of having stopped “taking responsibility for its mistakes and losing humility.” “This is not a good situation,” Gunther Steiner adds, pinpointing the death of Charlie Whiting—the historic race director in charge from 1997 until his sudden death on the eve of the 2019 Australian GP—as the moment when everything changed in the way the Federation’s stewards handled races.

Charlie Whiting better than Michael Masi
According to Gunther Steiner, Charlie Whiting’s death hastened the process of finding his successor, leading to the promotion of Australian Michael Masi, who is blamed for many of the FIA’s mistakes during the tense 2021 battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen: “Regardless of who you’re a fan of (and yes, I agree, it was an incredible spectacle), from a regulatory standpoint, that season was a mess of biblical proportions. And, no matter what decision Whiting would have made instead of Masi, I’m sure there would have been far fewer controversies and embarrassments. Oh, f***! We all know what Charlie would have done. If he had been in charge, today Lewis would be an eight-time world champion.”

When Gunther Steiner’s new book will be released
*Unfiltered* recounts Gunther Steiner’s decade-long career in Formula 1 and is the second book from the Italian manager after *Surviving to Drive*, published last year following the great popularity he gained thanks to the Netflix docuseries *Drive to Survive*. It will be released on October 10 and is already available for pre-order online, though for now only in English.