“Mistakes were made but wasn’t manipulated”– F1 expert speaks out on the controversial final laps at Abu Dhabi

Martin Brundle says race control was “clumsy” but didn’t believe the decision involved any fixing from the race director Michael Masi.

The long-fought championship battle reached its climax at the final deciding race at Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were neck and neck with everything on the line.

Hamilton seemed to have a comfortable lead over the Dutchman. However, things took a dramatic turn when Nicholas Latifi hit the wall in the final few laps triggering a safety car.

Race director Michael Masi only allowed lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to pass through. The Red Bull ace, on fresher tires, was right behind Lewis. With green flags waved, Max overtook Lewis on the last lap of the race.

Martin Brundle talks about discussions of the decision fixing the race. “We had all eyes on us, and then it was clumsy. It confused people. It upset the fans.”

“If you start accusing people of fixing at significant events or manipulating, you need to have some perfect evidence and some good lawyers around you.”

“I don’t think it was, I don’t think there was a time in the chaos that was the last few laps of that race to sit down and think about, ‘Whom do I want to win this race?'”

Christian Horner just said to me nothing decided yet but he expects a decision tonight. Presumably the losing side will then appeal anyway.

— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) December 12, 2021

Also Read: Michael Masi has done too much damage to Formula 1 to continue

Martin Brundle doesn’t think removing race director Michael Masi is enough 

Brundle thinks the FIA can’t recover the trust lost in formula one simply by removing Masi. Further, he mentions that there’s too much to be done. He adds that there aren’t other suitable candidates to replace him at the moment.

“This is way too big a job for one person to handle this in a 23-race season, it’s only going to grow.”, Brundle says. “The problem is who do you replace him with? Because obviously experience is going to be very important for the man who slots into that position.”

Also Read: Max Verstappen talks about lows in his title winning campaign