McLaren driver Lando Norris criticizes race director Michael Masi’s decision to allow only a few drivers to unlap themselves.
Lewis Hamilton was leading Max Verstappen by quite some margin with 6 laps to go when Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barriers. The safety car was soon deployed.
Verstappen who was in 2nd, then decided to pit for soft tyres and came out with 5 lapped cars between himself and Hamilton. Initially, Masi declared that the lapped cars would not be allowed to pass the safety car.
That extraordinary final lap of the 2021 title race in full 😮#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kknTMDfpAF
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However, on lap 57, Masi ordered the lapped cars to pass Bernd Maylander’s Aston Martin. This put Verstappen’s Red Bull right behind the W12 of Hamilton.
To make matters worse for the Briton, the safety car ended on that very lap. Verstappen, who was on fresher and softer tyres, comfortably passed Hamilton and took the chequered flag to win his first World Championship.
After the race, McLaren driver Lando Norris said he didn’t understand the call made by Masi. He also suggested that it was done to create more drama.
Also read: FIA Stewards defends race director Michael Masi against Mercedes’ safety car complaint
Lando Norris says that it was ‘made to be a fight’
Norris wasn’t taking sides after he got to know what happened. He even congratulated Verstappen on his victory after the race and on social media. Still, the young Briton does not see eye to eye with the stewards on this matter.
“I don’t know what decisions were made based upon things the stewards said in the first place.” said Lando.
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“If that decision to maintain order then made Lewis or made Mercedes make the decision to not box, but then later on they suddenly said now they’re allowed to overtake, then I guess that’s not acceptable.”
“I don’t know exactly what was said or what was done. But a controversial end, that’s all I can say.” he added. The 21-year-old went on to suggest that Masi made the call only to get an ‘entertaining’ finish to the season. But he did not comment on whether he thought it was fair or not.
Norris was surprised when he got the order to pass the safety car
The McLaren driver added that he was taken by surprise when his team asked him to pass the safety car. He said that lapped drivers were sometimes instructed to do so, but he wasn’t expecting it to happen last Sunday.
“I didn’t actually know it was only the first three or four up to Max.” Norris said. “So it was obviously made to be a fight. It was for the TV, of course. It was for the result. Whether or not it was fair, it’s hard for me to decide.”
“But the call, they said they’re not going to let us pass. So I’m guessing that was a message to say they were just not going to let us pass at all. But then to suddenly do it just for the final lap and for a one-lap shootout, I’m a bit surprised by.” he concluded.
