© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
By Carol M. Creasey
Before tempers start to flare, the words in the title are not mine, they are on the front cover of issue 36 of a French motorsport magazine Grand Prix.
The translation of the text that follows roughly reads:
“Sport and fair play make Lewis Hamilton the only eight-time world champion in Formula One history. He thus exceeds the seven titles of Michael Schumacher, and also has 104 victories to his name. And the fact that it was decided it was better for F1 that the race resumes for the sole need of television, without the conditions for this resumption being met, is neither normal or justifiable.”
This is quite statement from this magazine, as it also shows a photograph of Sir Lewis smiling and waving , which adorns the front cover. Up until the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, this must have also been in Lewis’s mind, having led the race from the beginning, and then, in the cruellest way possible, all his hard work and his healthy lead were ignored to favour Max Verstappen, who had failed to keep up with him.
Recent information about radio messages suggested that race director Michael Masi had both Jonathan Wheatley and Christian Horner pressuring him on how to change the rules, and he did exactly as they suggested. Obviously their requests were biased to favour their own driver. Toto Wolff was also on the radio telling him that it wasn’t right, but Masi ignored his words except to say “It’s called a motor race”.
It is perfectly understandable that Toto would be extremely angry to see the race being manipulated to suit Red Bull and disadvantage his own driver. Indeed, he would be a weak team principal if he had not shown anger. Mark Webber described the scenario as Lewis having to compete with “his hand tied behind his back“.
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Martin Brundle has referred to the radio messages as ‘embarrassing’ and ‘concerning’. Whereas Gary Lineker has referred to the whole race on Twitter as ‘smelly’. Lance Stroll also got impeded because of these bizarre circumstances, and has said it is just not right that the rules were changed on the fly. Many pundits have also offered their opinion, even people who are not Hamilton fans have agreed that it doesn’t sit well in the sporting world, and has brought the FIA into disrepute.
The whole Formula One world is awaiting the result of the FIA’s investigation, including Lewis. The FIA promised Mercedes they would investigate and make changes. But will they? Have they got the courage to rectify the huge wrong that was done? I certainly hope so, as the future of F1 depends on it. People will not want to watch rigged races, they want to see the best man prevail.
Fans of Red Bull will say Verstappen deserved the title more because he had more pole positions, and one more race win, except he didn’t, because the last race belonged to Lewis. Also let’s not forget that ahead of the season the regulations were changed to suit Red Bull’s car, so at the beginning of the championship Mercedes struggled. This didn’t stop Lewis from staying in touch, even though the Dutchman’s car had numerous upgrades throughout the season, while Mercedes didn’t have any since Silverstone. Mercedes also had engine problems, which involved penalties, but Lewis weathered that and entered the last race level on points. The winner is the last man standing, and it’s clear that in the last four races Verstappen had nothing left, whereas Lewis peaked, and drove superbly, and it made the championship a lot more exciting. He was on fire in Abu Dhabi, and he definitely deserved the race win, and the championship. It was clear by then that Verstappen had nothing left to challenge him with.
All I hope for this year is that it will be fair. I have everything crossed that Lewis will be back on the grid giving his all, and that he’ll once again be fighting for his eighth championship.
Be sure to follow Carol on Twitter @eagertogo and visit her website www.carolmcreasey.com!
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