Peter Windsor Defends Mercedes’ Debated Lewis Hamilton Decision in Abu Dhabi

The final race of the 2021 season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is perhaps the most controversial event in the history of the sport. A late crash caused by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi allowed a safety car to come out during the closing stages of the race. Hence, in order to keep track position, Mercedes decided to keep Lewis Hamilton out.

Formula One journalist Peter Windsor has given his analysis of the dramatic race. He stated that the Silver Arrows didn’t think it was possible to let the safety car in and carry on with the race. Therefore, in order to retain their lead in the race, they didn’t bring Lewis into the pits.

Formula One journalist reveals why Mercedes didn’t pit Lewis Hamilton

The 7-time world champion was leading the race, but a late safety car changed everything. The Toto Wolff-led team didn’t want to bring in Hamilton as it would have led to Max Verstappen taking the lead. Hence, they thought it was the best choice of letting Lewis stay out.

Windsor said as quoted by Motorsport.com, “If they had pitted for the new tyres, they would probably have won the world championship. The reason Mercedes didn’t do it was because the rules showed it wasn’t worth it. They didn’t think it was possible for the safety car to get in and continue the race with one lap before the end. It wouldn’t have made any sense then. Based on that, Mercedes decided to leave Hamilton out.”

“Track position was very important and if Hamilton had gone in, Verstappen would have been out. If the race had ended under the safety car, Verstappen would have won. A pit stop therefore involved various risks. I think it’s still a difficult situation to analyze. Whichever way you look at it, it was impossible for Mercedes to predict what was going to happen,” he concluded. (Translated from Turkish via Google)

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The fight between Hamilton and Verstappen went down to the wire

For Sunday’s race, the Red Bull driver began on pole, but Hamilton claimed the lead as soon as the lights went out. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was adamant about not allowing the Mercedes driver to pass him so that Verstappen could catch up.

It appeared like it was only a matter of time after Hamilton passed Perez that he would win. Max’s title hopes were waning when Nicholas Latifi crashed, causing a safety car to be deployed. For the final laps of the race, the FIA made a controversial move that pitted both title candidates against one other.

The Knight tried but failed to keep Verstappen in his rearview mirror, allowing Max to take the lead all the way to the finish line. With such an exciting finish to the season, the Formula One community is looking forward to what the 2022 season has in store. What are your predictions for the coming year? Let us know in the comments section below.

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