A host of Formula 1 drivers involved in the drama-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that resulted in Max Verstappen being crowned world champion have weighed in on the controversy, labelling the finish “weird” and saying “it was for the TV”.
The controversy centred on the way in which a safety car was used following a Nicholas Latifi crash as Verstappen and title rival Lewis Hamilton navigated lap 53.
While race director Michael Masi revealed on lap 56 that drivers positioned between the first-placed Hamilton and second-placed Verstappen were not permitted to overtake the safety car, the Australian official overturned his decision on the following lap.
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Masi ushered through Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, clearing the Yas Marina circuit for Verstappen to just about draw level with Hamilton for a final-lap showdown. An 11-second deficit had disappeared in an instant.
The three lapped cars not positioned between Hamilton and Verstappen – those of Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher – were not allowed to overtake the safety car.
Waiting for Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher to also pass the safety car would have resulted in a Hamilton-Verstappen dash to the finish of a shorter length or, of course, no sprint at all.
Masi clearly wanted to clear out the five cars positioned between Hamilton and Verstappen to create a thrilling battle.
While the last-lap duel was undoubtedly pulsating, it was also contentious, given the fact that only some lapped drivers were allowed to pass the safety car.
Hamilton, who had been on hard tyres since lap 14, realistically had no chance of staving off Verstappen, who had pitted for soft tyres under the yellow flags as the seven-time world champion crawled behind the safety car.
“I didn’t actually know it was only like the first three or four (actually five) 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 is not up to me to decide.
“Sometimes they let you go, sometimes they don’t. It’s just 50-50 half the time. But they said that they’re not gonna 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 – then I’m a bit surprised.”
Leclerc has also struggled to make sense of the finish.
“For me it was a bit weird because I was a bit in the middle of nowhere,” Lerclerc said.
“We could overtake the leaders, I think, for just like a lap before restarting, and we were in the middle of nowhere.
“I was just fighting for the ninth place with Esteban, I think, just in front.
“But first I was told I would not be able to unlap myself. (Then) at the end, at the last moment, we actually had the opportunity to unlap ourselves.
“So, yeah, it was a bit of a strange one.”
The race made for a whirlwind finish to Ricciardo’s first season with McLaren.
“I was confused because I got that message that they won’t overtake,” Ricciardo said.
“Through my head I thought, ‘that seems OK, like I guess, fair, because Lewis had such a lead and Max has newer tyres. In this way he has to cut through a few cars if they’re going to restart the race’.
“Then I saw some cars overtake so I asked, ‘what do I do? Do I pass?’, and then I think (McLaren engineer) Tom (Stallard) said, ‘no, you have to stay here’.
“So I’ve literally got front-row seats for the last lap. And I’m also on a new soft, or a newer soft, so I was like, ‘do I pass both of them?’.
“Nah, just kidding. I’m honestly a bit speechless, I don’t know what to make of that. I really don’t. I need to see how it all came about.”
Alonso has raced in Formula 1 since 2001 and only Kimi Raikkonen has had more starts, but the controversy even confused the veteran Spaniard.
“When the safety car was out I thought we were able to overtake quickly, because normally it is what happens,” Alonso said.
“You see the green light of the safety car, and then you are unlapping yourself until they remove the car.
“But we didn’t have that green signal, and then two laps after the engineer told me that you will not be able to unlap yourself, and the positions would stay like this.
“One corner later the green light came on and I said, ‘but we have a green light’. And they said, ‘yeah, yeah, you can do it now. Follow Norris’. And I followed Norris.
“So it was a little bit confusing.”
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