Masi dismisses criticism after Verstappen crash: "Meets all safety requirements"

Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg posted a video analysis on his YouTube channel about the circuit of Baku. In this analysis, he talks about the pitting entrance, which he calls dangerous. Race director Michael Masi waved the criticism away.

The entrance to the pit lane in Baku is located just before the finish line on the left-hand side of the track. On the fastest part of the track, drivers have to go through a chicane to reach the pits, while drivers who don't do that drive past at 350 kilometers per hour.

Rosberg calls that point one of the most dangerous of the year. "It's pretty scary, you arrive at that point at 350 kilometres per hour and on the left is the pits. Imagine that something breaks off at that point; on the left, there is only a wall. If you end up there and you are going 350 kilometres per hour then that's the end, there's no more you," the former Mercedes driver explained.

Rosberg's statements were underlined by the crashes of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen, both on the straight. Verstappen suffered a blowout near the pits and commented afterwards that things could have turned out very differently if he had turned left.

Masi, however, waved away Rosberg's criticism. "I don't agree with that comment," he says to Motorsport.com. He adds that the entrance to the pits, as well as the entire circuit, are homologated by the FIA as a Grade 1 circuit. "It meets all the safety requirements within the regulations of the FIA", Masi said.