In the 1986 FIFA World Cup semi-finals between Argentina and England, the game went goalless at halftime. And then one of the most controversial moments in football happened; Maradona hit, but he hit with the hand. “Mano de Dios”, or the hand of God as it was called, has been immortalized in history. And 35 years later, in Formula 1, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff suspects that something similar happened to them in Abu Dhabi.
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After announcing no more appeal, Wolff compared the Maradona gate to the injustice of Abu Dhabi.
“It’s an injustice that definitely compares to Maradona’s Mano de Dios or the 1966 Wembley goal,” said Wolff, as reported in Formula Passion.
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The reason why we protested against the race result on Sunday was the new application of the safety car regulations, which had an impact on the race result. pic.twitter.com/x8Tq4bNhHU
– Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@ MercedesAMGF1) December 16, 2021
Wolff found the race director clearly guilty and suggested that even if they took the result to court, the odds would be high.
“A contradicting decision by the race director has taken the title away from Lewis. We could appeal, yes, and we would have won in any court, but that’s not how we wanted to win the title, ”said Wolff.
“And then the FIA would have been accused and judge at the same time: We would have been in a fainting situation, just like on Sunday.” (Translated with Google translator)
Toto Wolff is disaffected, but remains in a class of its own
The Austrian described how he and Hamilton are both disaffected – “our hearts cry”.
“When the principles of sport are ignored and the stopwatch is worthless, one begins to wonder if all the work, blood, sweat and tears are worth shedding.”
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But regardless of that, Wolff showed his class when he described his exchange with Verstappen. He said, “Exchanging congratulations with Max? Yes, I can confirm. He replied ‘Thank you very much, it was an uphill battle, I can’t wait for the next year’. “
NURBURG, GERMANY – Mercedes GP Executive Director Toto Wolff speaks in the press conference of the team bosses during practice prior to the F1 Eifel Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring in Nuerburg, Germany. (Photo by Joe Portlock / Getty Images)
The pain of defeat is clear to Mercedes. They have expressed their disappointment by boycotting the FIA awards ceremony and making targeted statements.
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However, the best answer for them would be to fight back, dominate and crush their opponents by their superiority on the track, as they have done for the past few years.
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