Lewis Hamilton had a heartbreaking end to the 2021 season after having intense competition with Max Verstappen for over nine months. It is widely accepted the rules on that night in Abu Dhabi were ‘altered’, which allowed the Red Bull star to win his maiden championship.
For this mismanagement, the FIA sacked Michael Masi from his position. Even now, Masi’s presence during the Australian Grand Prix was frowned upon by many fans. On the other hand, Hamilton was in total disbelief at the season’s verdict.
So much so that he went away from public view for several weeks. He still calls the race result unfair. Yet, Haas boss Guenther Steiner believes there was no losing party in this.
Guenther Steiner feels both sides won
While Mercedes’ entire garage remained sour over the drivers’ championship going to Verstappen, Haas boss Guenther Steiner feels it was a ‘win-win’ for both sides. In fact, he claims, he would take the result happily if it was him.
“Look, at the end of the day, both teams have won a world championship and good for them. Red Bull won the drivers’ and Mercedes the constructors’. I’d take either of those. Mercedes didn’t protest, so off we go. We move on,” wrote Steiner in his new book Surviving to Drive.
He even claims that initially, though he had only a few facts, he was happy about what was happening with his rival Toto Wolff. At the same time, he was surprised by the strange decisions of race director Masi.
The era of Lewis Hamilton is over after 2021
The decisions made that night were surely questionable, and Hamilton was indeed at the receiving end. It could have gotten him the record-breaking eighth world championship had the rulebook been followed.
Now, with the end of the 2021 season, F1 has shifted to the era of new regulations. But Mercedes has clearly not been able to adapt to the new modifications and is no more vying for the championship like it used to.
Therefore, the Dutch F1 expert Rob Kamphues thinks that the era of Hamilton is over. He adds that maybe the sport is now in the ‘era’ of Verstappen, as the 25-year-old is marching towards his third world title.
