Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 'Max Verstappen's win decided by a questionable call'
It was a bad-tempered way to end what had become an increasingly bad-tempered season.
A virtual safety car gave Red Bull hope, allowing them a free pit stop for fresher tyres. But it made little difference - the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen merely stabilised rather than growing every lap, and Hamilton appeared to be driving to the title. Hamilton immediately realised the potential consequences - if the race restarted he would be a sitting duck on old tyres with Verstappen right behind him on fresh ones.What followed was unprecedented.
Verstappen obviously expressed the opposing view. "Everything [on track] was clear," he said, "so why would you do another lap behind the safety car?" However, Masi had acted contrary to another part of the same article, 48.12 of the sporting regulations. The stewards used this as part of their justification for throwing out Mercedes' appeal after the race. But does the rule mean Masi can decide to do whatever he wants in such situations, or that he has the ultimate authority in the correct application of the rules?
He was not penalised, for example, for forcing Hamilton off the track in Brazil - a decision many drivers felt was wrong, and told Masi so - but was for a similar incident in Saudi Arabia. "It's called a motor race, Toto," he said. Some senior figures were aghast at the manner and content of that remark.
One of them had to win in the end. But whichever way the title decider in Abu Dhabi had gone, the winner would have been one of the all-time great champions at the end of one of the all-time great seasons. "New experiences and I learned more about myself, in a positive way luckily. Clearly you keep on improving.
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