Lewis Hamilton says his “worst fears came alive” toward the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he chased a record-breaking eighth F1 title.
The Mercedes driver was on course to achieve another World Championship before a late Safety Car restart turned the race on its head.
Title rival Max Verstappen was able to pit for fresh Soft tyres, while a controversial call from Race Control allowed only the lapped cars in between the two protagonists to unlap themselves.
Verstappen went on to overtake Hamilton on the final lap of the race to secure his first F1 title.
“You see things start to unfold and my worst fears came alive,” Hamilton told Vanity Fair.
“I was like, there’s no way they’re going to cheat me out of this. There’s no way. That won’t happen. Surely not.
“I don’t know if I can really put into words the feeling that I had. I do remember just sitting there just in disbelief and realising I’ve got to undo my belts, I’ve got to get out of there, I’ve got to climb out of this thing, I’ve got to find the strength. I had no strength.
“And it was one of the toughest moments, I would say, that I’ve had in a long, long time. I knew what had happened. I knew what decisions had been made and why. Yes, I knew that something wasn’t right.”
An investigation took place in the months that followed, with the FIA concluding that “human error” led to the mishap.
Hamilton went into a period of silence on social media after the race, leaving some to question his immediate future in the sport.
The Briton admits that he was indeed contemplating if he wanted to carry on as a driver: “I, for sure, considered whether I wanted to continue,” he said.
Michael Masi, who was the Race Director at the time, soon after vacated the FIA and his role this year is being carried out in rotation between Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.
Mr. Hamilton
hand on heart … If you didn’t send Max into the wall at Silverstone and then Mr. Botas didn’t intentionally crash Max in Hungary, then it wouldn’t have to be decided in the last race and the title would be clear a few laps ahead … For the next one, you also had the possibility to go to the pits for new tires and you would be in the same situation… Messi did not want the race to be decided under the safety car flag and for that he has a thumbs up…
You didn’t deserve the title for your bullshit…
Hey David when you get maxes underwear out of your mouth and your head out of your butt
Maybe you can get enough oxygen to your brain to stfu for a while
Your an idiot
No explanation needed
Agree with Bill!! Lewis was robbed!!!! It’s like they basically said we had enough of Hamilton winning…..bullshit
The Silverstone incident ALONE would have been enough to get the championship over with before the last race. By every right, Hamilton should have been atleast DQd from that race, if not suspended for the next race as well. Call a spade a spade, Masi fucked up 2 major calls, but you Hammy Fanboys don’t even look past the last lap of the year.
100% agree. Hamilton deserved much worse than what he got during the final race, and I can only hope there is more to come for him in the future if he sticks around, which hopefully he doesn’t.
Totally agree with your comment. Hamilton was totally reckless that day and should have been black-flagged straight away. Karma is a cruel beast and this time it bit Hamilton and MB hard. Best man won the 2021 WC end of
I can’t believe you clowns still believe Hamilton purposely crashed out Verstappen in Silverstone. You guys are too much and this is coming from a Norris fan !
No one has ever said Hamilton purposely crashed into Max at Silverstone…what Hamilton did was completely dangerous…and there was no excuse or “fair play” about it. Had he not hit Max, Hamilton himself would had been the car smashing into the wall at 180mph because there was NO WAY he could have held the car at that speed on that turn.
Wrong, Dave. I’ve said that Hamilton purposely crashed into Verstappen. And I’ll keep saying it because it’s true. You are absolutely correct that he used Verstappen’s car as his brake into that corner, and I am certain he intended to do that, since he made no attempt to follow the arc of the curve. Firstly, Hamilton tried to tap Verstappen’s rear wheel at the first turn, in order to spin him out, and it failed, so he went back in at Copse and hit him harder to make sure he went into the wall. I believe that he intended at Copse to put Verstappen out of the championship for at least a few races, and wasn’t concerned by the prospect of putting him out of Formula One permanently. For supporting evidence I refer you to Monza 2018, where Hamilton tapped Vettel’s rear wheel at the first corner of the race, failed to spin him out and went back for another go a few turns later where he successfully spun Vettel’s Ferrari at the second chicane. Not as dangerous in terms of impact speed, but Vettel could easily have been speared by a following car as he went round. Hamilton also attempted something similar on his then teammate Rosberg at Barcelona in 2016 but misjudged his lunge, went onto the grass and took both of them out of the race. For a genuine pass he would have attempoted to go around the outside, as Rosberg had done to him at turn one, but to spin out his opponent without turning that car across his own path he needed to be on the inside, which is why he went for the tight side and ended up on the grass. As with Vettel in 2018, and Verstappen in 2021, he knew Rosberg was quicker that day and if he didn’t get him out of the race on lap one there would be no more chances since his opponent would be away down the road. Hamilton has had the combination of the fastest car and a less than top class teammate over the last eight years of success, but as soon as he has seen the wind blowing against him in a title race this trick has come out. Of course, instances of his lesser offences, such as running people wide, as he complained about Verstappen doing to him in Brazil, are legion. As are examples of his toxic whinging. He never shut up for four years about Vettel having car advantage, yet the Red Bull was never nearly so dominant as the Mercedes came to be. Webber was at least the equal of Rosberg, and far better than Bottas, yet he never finished runner-up in the title race. And while Red Bull secured twelve one-two race finishes over those four years, Mercedes matched that number in 2015 alone. Hamilton is a dirty and dangerous driver, possibly not the worst ever, but the one who has profited the most from foul deeds over the course of a career, and he pairs that with a poisonous and agitative demeanour.
Lewis welcome to the real world. The same people who robbed you of your 8th come from the same blood who landed in occupied North America and said they discovered it. The same who robbed Africa and other continents of their riches. The same as cops who shot people looking like you for walking the street then saying their life is in danger.
Bag of shite. If Hamilton cares so much about such causes where has he been hiding all his t-shirts supporting justice over the murder of retired cop David Dorn?