A message from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has been unearthed from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after claiming the end of the race had been “manipulated” as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the 2021 world championship title after a controversial final few laps.
The drama unfolded after Nicolas Latifi crashed his Williams with a handful of laps of the race remaining, with the safety car deployed to neutralise the field and eliminating any advantage the Mercedes driver had at the front.
Verstappen dove into the pits for a new set of soft tyres, with Mercedes staying out on their rapidly ageing hard tyres.
Despite race control initially telling drivers they couldn’t unlap themselves, Hamilton was informed on the Mercedes team radio by race engineer Peter Bonnington that race director Michael Masi was letting the lapped cars between the leader and second-placed Verstappen go past him.
Bonnington then said, “Safety car in this lap, just prepare your tyres, you’ll have overtake for each of the straights, one lap to run.”
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Mercedes set to scrap appeal after Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Hamilton did initially speak after the race ahead of the podium celebrations, but was absent for the FIA post-race press conference, with boss Toto Wolff also refusing to give interviews as the team initially lodged two protests against the FIA.
Both were thrown out by the stewards, as Mercedes pushed further and lodged their intent to appeal.
The team now has 96 hours from the notice to decide if they want to take things further, with The Times reporting they are considering scrapping the appeal after recognising it could cause more damage to Formula One if they pushed forward.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton said: “Firstly congratulations to Max and to his team. I think we did an amazing job this year. My team, everyone back at the factory, have worked so hard this whole year, it’s been the most difficult of seasons.
“I’m so proud of them and I’m so grateful to be a part of the journey with them. This last part of the season we gave it absolutely everything and never gave up, that’s the most important thing.
“I have been feeling good and great in the car this past couple of months, particularly at the end.
“If I’m honest we were still in the pandemic and I just really wish everyone to stay safe and have a good Christmas with all their families and we’ll see about next year.”
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