. Before the last season of the Abu Dhabi GP and they had the same number of points – 369.5. A few laps before the end of the race, Hamilton had an 11-second advantage over Verstappen. Nobody and nothing could take the championship from him. And yet…
The whole situation was changed by the unexpected accident of Nicholas Latifi, who hit the gang. His car had to be pulled from the track to order, and all cars followed the safety car. took the risk, taking advantage of the neutralization, dragged Verstappen into the pits once more, fitting him with new soft tires. By the team’s decision, Hamilton stayed on the track with much more worn tires. The judges initially suggested that the doubled drivers between Hamilton and Verstappen would not be allowed to pass the safety car to move to the bottom of the pack. This would be a huge obstacle for Verstappen, who also did not know if the race would be resumed at all, because the entire stake could have reached the finish line behind the “safety car”.
In the end, the laps were sent to their place and it was announced that the safety car would leave the track one lap before the end. A lap that will forever go down in F1 history, because Verstappen, thanks to new tires, was the first to finish. Those events still arouse great controversy. Especially since it seems that Michael Masi, F1 racing director, made decisions under pressure from the Red Bull authorities!
The BBC has the recordings. “Red Bull instructed Masi”
The BBC reports that the FIA has tapes of Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull’s sporting director, instructing Masi what to do.
“These duplicate cars, you don’t have to let them do the whole lap and catch the tail of F1.” Just let them pass. Then we’ll have the race in our hands, Wheatley was to say to Masi.
“Got it,” said the F1 racing director.
After the race was over, Totto Wolf, the director of Mercedes, had huge resentments on Masi for a controversial decision at the end of the race. – It’s called a race, you know? Masi was to answer.
Soon, the BBC investigation may reveal the next unknown backstage of the historic race. The FIA report, in turn, is to be presented on February 14. British journalists say the report will say that Masi did not follow the procedures, thus distorting the result of the sporting rivalry.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
