Anyone who saw the 2021 season finale may have been shocked at watching the turn of events. Though controversies with Lewis Hamilton at Abu Dhabi are not a new thing. The 2016 title decider was another one of those days when a title battle turned the heat up at Yas Marina.
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Apparently, Nico Rosberg had to finish 3rd or higher to take the 2016 title. Lewis Hamilton was leading the race at the Yas Marina Circuit and as Rosberg got into 2nd place behind him, Lewis started backing him up into drivers behind him. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen closed up quickly to the Mercedes W07s, making it tense for Rosberg.
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Mercedes tried to tell Lewis on the radio to drive faster but to no avail. The Briton disobeyed the team orders as he said on the team radio, “Right now, I am losing the world championship. So I don’t care if I win or lose this race.” It was a tense situation for Rosberg. As such, if he dropped below 3rd, Lewis may have won the championship.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Race winner Lewis Hamilton and second place finisher and World Champion Nico Rosberg on the podium during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. At Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Eventually, Nico held to P2 and took the championship by 5 points. But Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff, was not impressed with Lewis’s actions. As per the Guardian, he said, “Undermining a structure in public means you are putting yourself before the team. It is very simple. Anarchy does not work in any team and in any company.”
“The other half of me says it was Lewis’s only chance of winning the championship at the stage and maybe you cannot demand a racing driver that is one of the best, if not the best out there, to comply in a situation where his instincts cannot make him comply.”
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There were rumors of Hamilton getting some disciplinary action or suspension from a few races from the team. Though as the dust settled from the Silver War and Rosberg shockingly retired, it was all back to normal in 2017.
What did Lewis Hamilton justify in his actions in Abu Dhabi in 2016?
While Toto Wolff said that they will find a solution to such a problem, many still blamed Lewis for his on-track crimes in Abu Dhabi in 2016. Some may say he arguably used dirty tactics. But in his defense, he felt it was right to fight that way for the championship.
Mercedes Formula One drivers Nico Rosberg (L) of Germany and Lewis Hamilton (44) of Britain go into a turn together during the Mexican F1 Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City November 1, 2015. REUTERS/Henry Romero
And eventually, it did not work out for him, as his rival still won the battle. Behind closed doors, Wolff surely would have had a talk with Hamilton to make him understand that it was not his last chance to win the title.
Yet a driver with 50+ wins and 3 titles (back in 2016) may still assert his authority on the racetrack. The only thing Lewis probably undermined was that the team is greater than the individual. The exact crux of what Toto mentioned after the race. A driver cannot overrule the team’s order for his benefit.
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F1 has always been a team sport. And within a team, we should always encourage a hard and fair competitive fight. But on the other hand, Hamilton is not the first driver to engage in such tactics. As they say, F1 drivers are built differently. They will always compete, whether it is a friend or foe in the car. It doesn’t matter.
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Watch This Story: Ugliest moments in Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry
Finally, Mercedes closed the lid on the fierce rivalry that took place between Hamilton and Rosberg. While Nico won his elusive world title, Lewis redeemed himself by winning 4 on the bounce after the German left. What do you think about Lewis’s Abu Dhabi 2016 controversy?
