The 2021 season ended in questionable circumstances on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 22 races after it began.
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Christian Horner claims Mercedes made the mistake of leaving Lewis Hamilton exposed in the restart during the Abu Dhabi saga. The season ended in questionable circumstances on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 22 races after it began. On a Sunday where the winner would take it all, Hamilton had a 10-second lead over Max Verstappen when Nicholas Latifi crashed late in the race, bringing out the Safety Car. Red Bull pitted Verstappen right away, while Mercedes decided not to pit Hamilton for fear of losing track position.
That meant Hamilton had no answer for Verstappen and his new tyres when the race was restarted with one lap to go. The Red Bull driver took the lead easily and went on to win the race and the championship. Horner believes Mercedes made the wrong call.
“If you look at the season as a whole, we had a lot of bad luck and we got fortunate with the incident at the end of the race,” Horner told WION. “The Safety Car was the inevitable response to that and tactically we made the right call.”
“We pitted Max, Mercedes left Lewis out and he was then going to be very exposed at a restart. Of course when the race did get started – which was always going to be the intention of the race director – you know Max had to go for it. He had one lap to make the pass, he did it and managed to convert the championship so it was an amazing feeling, and an amazing end to an incredible year,” the Red Bull team principal added.
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As expected, Red Bull was ecstatic with the result, while Mercedes was incensed to the point of filing two protests. The stewards threw both of them out. Horner revealed that he went over to Mercedes after the race to shake hands, but that Toto Wolff, his Mercedes counterpart, was nowhere to be found. He did, however, speak with Hamilton and Anthony, Hamilton’s father.
“At the end of the day we’re a sport, we’re not saving lives,” said Horner. “It’s a sport, it is fierce, it is competitive, but there has to be a respect at the end of it.”
“It’s been a long, hard, tough year last season and that’s why I went to see Toto following the end of the race. Unfortunately he wasn’t about, but I did manage to speak with Lewis and his father,” he concluded.
