Photo: Race Pictures

Contrarian view reignites fresh debate over 2021 Abu Dhabi showdown

17:26, 19 Dec

Updated: 17:32, 19 Dec

4 Comments

byTobia Elia

Jacques Villeneuve has offered a contrasting view on the infamous 2021 championship finale in Abu Dhabi.

“He should have won it before that race. Max should never have been able to fight so hard at the end”

- Jacques Villeneuve

As is now widely known, Max Verstappen and Red Bull managed to overturn what had seemed a foregone conclusion to the championship by capitalising on former race director Michael Masi’s decision to allow a final-lap shootout.

On fresh tyres and with one last lap at his disposal, the Dutchman passed the seven-time world champion to win both the race and the title, leaving Lewis Hamilton with a bitter defeat to swallow.

Asked on the High Performance Podcast whether he agreed with the idea of considering Hamilton the true champion that year, the Canadian offered a different perspective: “What you forget is that it’s the work of a whole season. He should have won it before that race. Max should never have been able to fight so hard at the end.

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

“What everyone forgets is that on lap one, Lewis cuts the chicane, steps on it, doesn’t even try to slow down, and doesn’t get a penalty. That gives him the lead of the race. Without that, no lead. With a penalty, he’s five seconds behind Max anyway, so we don’t even get to that point. That’s where the issue started.”

Villeneuve believes Hamilton and Mercedes had a window to pit under the Safety Car, but the team chose not to in order to avoid losing track position or risking the race finishing behind the SC.

“You can’t just look at that one moment, where everything happened in chaos and very quickly, when the team could have pitted Lewis and chose not to. Then, at the restart, Lewis wasn’t even fighting — it’s as if he had decided he was done. He wasn’t fighting at all. It looks bad because people say they gave him the championship, but no — they had the choice to pit and they didn’t. Very simple.”

Wolff reveals Hamilton is still fixated on 2021 title defeat to Verstappen

Speaking in a recent interview, the Mercedes team principal admitted that both he and his former driver “haven’t got over it,” in what is still remembered as one of the most dramatic finales in the sport’s history.

That decision by Masi cost Hamilton the chance to secure his eighth world title, which would have made him the most successful driver of all time outright — even if he still shares the record with Michael Schumacher.

Read Wolff’s full comments on Abu Dhabi 2021 here.

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