© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Daimler AG
Former F1 team manager Peter Windsor says he still thinks “it’s rotten” that “Lewis Hamilton was robbed of that eighth title in that one incident” at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix finished behind the Safety Car, despite the fact that the FIA and Formula 1 said on numerous occasions that the controversial last lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was allowed to happen because they wanted the race to end under green flag conditions.
According to the rules the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was supposed to end behind the Safety Car, but the race director (at the time) Michael Masi decided to ignore this to allow for one more lap of racing, and this basically handed Max Verstappen the world title on a silver platter.
While talking about the Australian Grand Prix on his YouTube channel, former Ferrari and Williams team manager Peter Windsor noted the discrepancy between what was decided in Melbourne, and what was done in Abu Dhabi.
“They finished the race behind the Safety Car [in Melbourne],” Windsor said.
“Ring any bells? That’s the finish we should have got in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
“I didn’t see any Australian fans, and they’re pretty vociferous at the best of times, complaining or booing saying: ‘No, we want this race to finish as a proper one-lap race, this is terrible.’
“They were all cheering and clapping, exactly as I said they would have in Abu Dhabi ’21 if they’d finished it behind the Safety Car, as they should have done, and Lewis had been cruising round to win his eighth World title.
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“That, to me, was absolute proof, again, of what went wrong in Abu Dhabi and I still feel very hot under the collar about that as well.
“I still think it’s rotten that they completely blew that and Lewis Hamilton was robbed of that eighth title in that one incident.
“Of course, you don’t win or lose a Championship in one race. What I’m talking about is the decision that was taken.
“And nobody cared at all [in Australia]. The Australians just loved that Safety Car, they were all cheering.
“I thought actually a couple of the drivers might wave to the crowd, because it wasn’t as if you could overtake, but they didn’t.
“But nonetheless, it was nice. They came round slowly and everybody stood and cheered and clapped and it was a great moment.
“Just as it would have been in Abu Dhabi in ’21,” the Briton concluded.
