Mercedes F1 displayed Lewis Hamilton's car, victim of the controversial championship defeat in 2021, in its factory hall.
The last time Hamilton drove the W12 was when he lost the world championship to Max Verstappen in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
The outcome of the race changed when race director Michael Masi broke the rules by organizing a restart on the final lap without allowing all the one-lap cars to split and join the leaders' lap. Masi was replaced and left the FIA the following year.
Mercedes was outraged by the conclusion of the championship, which cost Hamilton a record eighth world championship, and unsuccessfully protested the management of the race. She decided not to take the case to the International Court of Appeal, but Hamilton and team principal Toto Wolff refused to appear at the FIA awards gala.
The team has had three largely unsuccessful seasons since then. Hamilton is due to join Ferrari at the end of the year. The team has now put the controversial 2021 final car on display in its lobby at its factory in Brackley.
Wolff said the aim was to remember the highs and lows of this season by displaying the W12.
“It's a special car because it's also a car that turned things around after Brazil, where we thought the championship was over, and it was a very good car during the summer of 2021. Finally it's a car that reminds us all that things can go wrong very quickly, but things can also go right very quickly.”
“That's basically how life goes. And this car is a stark reminder of all the joy and all the pain a season can bring.”
He admitted he still thinks about the circumstances of Hamilton's 2021 championship defeat “every week”.
“I think about it mainly because I think Lewis should have deserved to be the greatest of all time with eight world championship titles. We can always argue about that year, I think Max and Lewis deserved to be champions.”
“There were times during the year where Max lost points that he shouldn't have lost. Look at Silverstone, look at the Monza crash that they both had. So all two deserved to be champions But this afternoon, in Abu Dhabi, it was unfair, it was Lewis who should have had his 8th title.
