When it comes to memories of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes F1, there is obviously the famous 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
Toto Wolff has explained why Mercedes F1 thought they had done the hardest when the race was neutralized in Abu Dhabi, after Nicholas Latifi’s accident six laps from the finish. The director of the Brackley team looks back on the scenarios envisaged, and explains why the title seemed certain.
“The strict interpretation of the rules is that you have to pass the cars and bring them together at the back.” Wolff said. “So, we tick the first box, we win the championship, that’s clear, because there aren’t enough laps left and the race ends under Safety Car.”
“The second version is: once the cars have taken off, it takes one more lap before the green flag. We win the championship. The third was more of an aberration from the rules, but we could have understood it .”
“It would have been to restart straight for the last lap, so you had a green flag lap and not behind a safety car, then Lewis would have won because there were a few cars in between, it didn’t make part of the regulations.”
“We wouldn’t have been able to change to new tires because we were in the lead, we would have lost our position and the race would have ended under the yellow flag or the safety car, so we would have lost the race.”
“So, with five laps to go, we are world champions. There is no contrary scenario… and then someone decides that the world championship should end in one lap, and unlock these cars in the middle is unheard of.”
Indeed, Michael Masi, the race director at the time, decided to let the latecomers who were between the two leaders pass and then restarted the race, which was not in the regulations. By leaving Hamilton at the mercy of Verstappen while circumventing the regulations, the Australian changed the course of a season which had been exceptional.
Wolff does not see Abu Dhabi 2021 as one of the worst fiascos in F1, but rather as one of the most controversial moments in sport in general: “Probably in most sports. Because it was clear that the referee had decided to do something that was not in the rules, not even a judgment, just not in the rules.”
