Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean claims race director Michael Masi made the right decision at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. The driver finds the last lap exciting from the TV viewer’s point of view.
Lewis Hamilton famously lost to Max Verstappen on the last lap of the highly controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, giving the Dutchman his first title win in the sport. A late safety car call by Michael Masi instantly altered the Brit’s chances of winning as Verstappen found himself on fresher tires on the Mercedes’ rear wing.
Maturation realizes the FIA didn’t screw Lewis Hamilton with their botched Abu Dhabi GP restart…
You screwed Max Verstappen.
He will always and deservedly be champion, but he will now unfairly leave an unfortunate stamp on his 1st world title.
The former Haas driver-turned IndyCar pro believes Masi made the right decision at the end of the race. He feels that the safety car decision would have been criticized regardless of how many lapped cars were allowed to lap themselves. He said:
“There are a couple of ways to see it. It would have been very odd not to lap those cars and have Lewis first and then Max four cars behind a lap for the World Championship. And then again, it definitely wasn’t a good decision for Lewis. But as a TV fan, as a spectator, in terms of sport, I think Michael Masi made the right decision.”
Romain Grosjean claims it wouldn’t have been nice to end the championship under a safety car. The Frenchman also believes that although he personally sides with Hamilton in 2021, his consistent performances throughout the season make Verstappen a worthy winner. He said:
“I don’t think it would have been nice to end the championship under the safety car. It wouldn’t have been nice if the guys in first and second were separated by a couple of cars. I was more on Lewis’ side than Max’s – so I was kind of like, ‘Oh, Lewis lost it!’. In the last part of the season, Mercedes did an incredible job. But I thought it was so cool to bring these two guys together.”
Romain Grosjean sided with Lewis Hamilton but acknowledged Max Verstappen’s bad luck in 2021
Max Verstappen was robbed in Bahrain, had a flat tire in Baku, was retired at Silverstone, was retired in Hungary, was unlucky with a pit stop at Monza and had a slower car overall this year.
Yet people still think he doesn’t deserve the championship.
Max Verstappen was robbed in Bahrain, had a flat tire in Baku, retired at Silverstone, retired in Hungary, was unlucky to pit at Monza and had a slower car overall this year. Despite this, people still believe he doesn’t deserve the championship.
Romain Grosjean believes Lewis Hamilton deserved to win the championship in Abu Dhabi. However, in the eyes of the Frenchman, Verstappen’s consistency over the season has proven he is worthy of the title. The now IndyCar driver also cited the bad luck Max had during the season, claiming the Dutchman lost many points through no fault of his own. He said:
“I think the misconception is to think that the world championship was one round. If we look at the whole season, you know, Max had a puncture in Baku, Valtteri Bottas crashed in Hungary at Verstappen, that was the Silverstone race. So if we look at how many points Verstappen lost – not necessarily through his fault – I think he was the one who deserved the championship more. At the Abu Dhabi race, Lewis deserved the championship more – he was unlucky on the last lap.”
also readThe article continues below
Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean’s 2021 favorite Lewis Hamilton’s status in the sport is uncertain. The Briton’s return is reportedly based on the findings of the ongoing FIA investigation, which is due to be decided on March 18.
Sign in to reply
Did you miss our previous article...
https://formulaone.news/haas/heres-what-needs-to-happen-for-audi-and-porsche-to-get-involved-in-f1
