The Motorsport Strategy director of Mercedes, James Vowles, has recently praised how Lewis Hamilton faced his loss of the 2021 Drivers’ Championship. Vowles highlighted that Hamilton’s reaction is an example of true sportsmanship and leadership.
The end of the 2021 season of Formula 1 remains one of the most controversial episodes in the recent history of the championship. The battle between Hamilton and Max Verstappen was decided at the last race, held at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with a controversial outcome that raised numerous criticisms.
In that event, Hamilton was leading the race when an accident involving Nicholas Latifi caused the safety car to enter. The decision of the then race director, Michael Masi, to allow only some lapped cars to un-lap themselves enabled Verstappen, with new tires, to overtake Hamilton and take the victory, as well as his first championship title.
Vowles, who was the strategic director of Mercedes at that time, commented that Hamilton’s reaction after the race was worthy of a champion. “He was one of the strongest leaders within the team in a difficult moment,” Vowles said, emphasizing that one cannot dismiss the merit of Red Bull and Verstappen as legitimate competitors with whom Hamilton battled. Even without the Abu Dhabi incident, Verstappen would have been in a position to fight for the title under normal circumstances.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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