Fact Check: Did Alain Prost Call Max Verstappen a “Fraud” For Beating Lewis Hamilton in 2021?

The controversial end to the 2021 battle sparked a debate that remains a heated topic of discussion among  F1 fans. Fans of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are known to engage in Twitter beef and get into lengthy arguments about the legitimacy of the championship decider in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen won the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP with a last-lap overtake on Hamilton after controversial decisions made by then-race director Michael Masi. Since then, most fans of the Mercedes driver have been arguing that Verstappen is an undeserved winner, and should be stripped of his title.

Recently, a Twitter post showed 4-time F1 champion Alain Prost criticizing the Dutchman’s abilities in F1. The quote stated Prost’s disapproval of Verstappen’s maiden title. However, this quote was fake and the Frenchman made no such comments.

Fake Alain Prost quote calls Max Verstappen a Fraud instead of F1 GOAT

A Twitter post shared by the user ‘Bruhcedes44‘, showed Alain Prost dismissing Max Verstappen’s 2021 title win. Prost apparently  Verstappen of winning the title on the back of a superior car and favorable team orders.

The fake post that was shared by a lot of accounts on Twitter read,

“You can take Lewis Hamilton to war and he’ll win it for you all along. For Max Verstappen, you need to give him superior car and team orders so he could do something. Max is closer to the fraud debate than the GOAT debate.”

 

Excuse me alain i wasn’t familiar with your game. 🔥🫡 pic.twitter.com/HkkAIXekY1

— KR!M0U⁴⁴ 🏁 (@Bruhcedes44) May 15, 2023

In reality, there are no records of the Frenchman speaking negatively about Verstappen in this sense, whatsoever. The former McLaren and Williams driver even admired the Dutchman’s ability to push a 7x world champion like Hamilton to his limits.

Prost said, as reported by Bleacher Report,

“Normally, the young guy has always an advantage because the fans want to see the young guy beat the old man.” However, the Frenchman also claimed that Verstappen’s British title rival could use the experience of winning to his advantage.

Prost sympathized with Hamilton’s issue after Abu Dhabi 2021

Both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were on level points heading into the final race of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton, who was much faster on the day, took the lead from Verstappen and led until the penultimate lap of the race.

In lap 53. however, the safety car was called out after Nicholas Latifi crashed. The Dutchman pitted for fresh tires while the Mercedes driver led the race. In lap 56, Masi allowed the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.

This put  the 7x world champion against the Red Bull driver, who had the advantage of fresher tires. In the following lap, the Dutchman overtook the Briton to take the lead and win his maiden championship. Masi’s decision came under the spotlight, with the Australian losing his job in the aftermath of the infamous race.

 

BREAKING: The FIA have confirmed that ‘human error’ was a factor in the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP title controversy, but say race director Michael Masi acted in ‘good faith’ and that the results from the race and championship are ‘valid’. pic.twitter.com/g945keMliC

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 19, 2022

The FIA deemed ‘human error’ to be the cause behind the mishap. They fired Masi from his position, however, Verstappen’s title claim stood.

Alain Prost showed sympathy for Mercedes and Hamilton after the race. He said,

“In my view, that was on the edge, although it is always difficult to assess as an outsider. But it was strange. Normally you would have had to wait until all the cars with a lap behind had passed the safety car and then we would have ended up pretty much behind that safety car.”

Since then, fans have often quarrelled about the legitimacy of the result. Hamilton fans often claim the driver was an 8-time world champion and demanded Verstappen’s result be voided. However, the fact remains that the Dutchman won the race and the title.