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via Getty

via Getty

If Mercedes had a time machine, they would go back to 2017 and ask the race engineer of Nicholas Latifi to change his advice to the F2 driver. We all know that Latifi’s crash on Sunday brought out the safety car and what happened after is on everyone’s lips and on top of everyone’s list right now.

But weirdly or funnily enough (depending on which side you’re on), Latifi might have predicted his own crash four years ago at the very point he crashed last night.

In an old tweet, the Canadian posted a video describing how his engineer told him to get close to the wall; the same wall in which he slammed in and ticked off the dominoes for Max Verstappen’s championship win.

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So, it seems he got a little too close this time.

Speaking after the race, Latifi said he was “struggling for pace” for most of the race, which was “a tough race.” The Williams driver said, “Towards the end of the grand prix I was racing with Mick Schumacher and was forced slightly wide, but fairly, at turn nine.”

“My tyres got dirty from running off track and I subsequently made a small mistake and unfortunately crashed. This obviously wasn’t how I wanted to end our season, so it’s disappointing.”

Verstappen and Red Bull will never forget Nicholas Latifi

Regardless, what happened, happened. And Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged the big, albeit unintentional, role Latifi played in their win. Horner said, “Many thanks to Nicholas Latifi for the safety car.”

And it’s not just an acknowledgement that Horner had for the Canadian. There’s something else for Latifi, lots of it.

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Horner promiseda lifetime supply of Red Bull” for Nicholas Latifi.

via Reuters

“We’re going to need a miracle,” is what Christian Horner said with ten laps remaining in the race at Abu Dhabi. And rightly so, because only a miracle could’ve given Max Verstappen his first title.

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And the miracle happened, served by Michael Masi and pioneered by Nicholas Latifi.

Also Read: “Like the Boxers” – Fernando Alonso Takes All the Attention With His Iconic F1 Radio in Abu Dhabi