Lewis Hamilton has revealed he has forgiven Michael Masi for the error which handed Max Verstappen the F1 title last season. Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable lead in the closing stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before a late-race safety car bunched up the field.
This allowed Verstappen to put on fresh tyres and close the gap to the Mercedes star with just a couple of laps remaining. The race looked set to end behind the safety car as not all the lapped cars had gotten around to the back of the field.
However, Masi restarted the race, allowing Verstappen to sweep past Hamilton before the end of the race to clinch his first F1 title. Speaking about the drama at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, Hamilton admitted he did not feel “targeted” by Masi’s error.
He explained: “I think it was just bad decision-making. I’m sure there is ego involved and then there are also the moving parts. There’s people speaking into his ear. I don’t feel like it was particularly targeted.”
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“When you hold on to some negativity, when you hold on to hate or whatever it is, it is just holding you back. I’m going up. And I am going forwards, regardless of what’s happened in the past. I chose not to dwell on it. There is nothing I can do about back then. I gave everything. Like, I gave everything, and I sacrificed.
“But I am willing to do it again. So that’s what I’m trying to work towards.” Hamilton has struggled to replace last year’s success as Mercedes battle to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari.
But, the Mercedes star nearly clinched his first win of the season in Austin last weekend as the team’s new upgrades almost paid off.
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