The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was one of the most exciting and controversial races in F1 history. The race saw the rise of a new champion in the name of Max Verstappen and ended the supremacy of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. A huge chunk of the F1 community blamed Red Bull, and then-race director Michael Masi for favoring Verstappen that evening. However, Christian Horner thinks that Mercedes directly contributed to Hamilton’s downfall in that race.
Hamilton was comfortably in lead of the race, and was on course to winning his eight world title. That was before a safety car came out, which allowed Verstappen to pit for fresher tires. Hamilton, however, didn’t. As a result, when Masi allowed Verstappen to overtake the lapped cars and restart right behind Hamilton on the final lap, there was nothing the Briton could do to defend.
Horner said in the recent Secrets of Success podcast by Sky Sports F1, “I think I lot is made about the final lap. “They left Lewis out on a set of tires that were 43 laps old. So he was only ever at a safety car gonna be hugely exposed. I think him being defensive, they exposed themselves to the situation that unfolded.”
Verstappen overtook Hamilton comfortably, and won his first world title. While there was a lot of anger within the Mercedes camp, had Hamilton pitted for fresh softs like Verstappen, he could have been as fast, if not faster than the Red Bull driver on the final lap. On the other hand, he would have lost places behind the unlapped cars, which is why they didn’t pit in the first place.
Nevertheless, the painful title loss didn’t take out the dignity out of Hamilton after the race was over, revealed Horner. The Red Bull boss went to shake hands with the Mercedes star and the latter congratulated Horner on the job done that night, amid a sea of condolences.
Christian Horner on the monumental 2021 Abu Dhabi GP
The 2021 F1 season marked the beginning of Red Bull’s return to the top with Max Verstappen’s first F1 title. This was Red Bull’s first title celebration since their historic season with Sebastian Vettel in 2013 which marked four titles in a row.
Therefore, the title decider in Abu Dhabi that year will always remain a special one for Christian Horner. Speaking about this on the podcast, Horner unraveled all the details such as how magnificent the season was, and how he cheered the team to go out there and perform.
Horner gathered the whole team before the race when he delivered a speech before them. He said that whatever happened in the race, the team showed incredible potential throughout the season, and had a magnificent journey which got them to where they were in the end.
He also asked the team to embrace their nerves for the situation, owing to how tense it was going to be. In the end, the boss asked the team to go out there, perform, and not worry about what would happen in the race, just like they had in the previous races that season.
