Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went toe to toe for the 2021 title, which included the end being decided by a late race safety car and the decisions which followed. Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve recently came out and suggested that Hamilton didn’t deserve the 2021 championship even if the controversial end to the race was excluded.
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton went into the final race of the 2021 season equal on points with Max Verstappen, meaning whoever finished ahead of the other would take the title home. However, the race ended in controversial circumstances as the Dutchman won the first title.
A late race safety car came out following Nicholas Latifi’s crash. Max Verstappen pitted for fresher tires while Lewis Hamilton, who was comfortably in the lead of the race, did not. FIA race steward Michael Masi then allowed the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the safety car, and restarted the race with one lap to go. The Dutchman on the fresher tires overtook Hamilton and won his first title.
Jacques Villeneuve recently featured on the High Performance podcast, where the hosts brought up Hamilton’s 2021 title challenge. The host suggested that the Briton deserved the 2021 title if it was not for the decision made by Michael Masi, and Villeneuve disagreed with the same. Detailing the reason behind his claims, the Canadian said,
“No, actually, what you forget is the work of a whole season. OK, it’s not just that one race. He should have won it before that race. That was the issue. Max should never have been able to fight so hard at the end. But what everyone forgets is on lap one, Lewis cuts the chicane, steps on it, doesn’t even try to slow down, and does not even get a penalty.” (1:01:00 onwards)
“You can’t just look at that moment, where everything happened in chaos and happened quickly, where the team could have pitted Lewis and they chose not to. So that’s their decision. It was a gamble. They chose not to, very simple. And then when you look at the restart, Lewis wasn’t even fighting. “It’s as if he had decided, oh, I’m done, I’m beaten. And he wasn’t even fighting,” he added
“Haven’t gotten over it”: Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton think about the 2021 championship every day
The 2021 Championship finale took a toll on both Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff. The Mercedes CEO was seen smashing the headphones while Hamilton decided not to attend the FIA Gala that year. Wolff spoke with the Telegraph ahead of the Brazilian GP, and was questioned about the 2021 title decider, to which he replied,
“We haven’t got over it. I talked to Lewis about it yesterday. I think about it every day and so does he. And it’s stayed with the team, too. Both were deserving champions, but the referee made a bad call, to use a football analogy, and you can’t reverse it. The goal has been scored, the game is finished.”
Lewis Hamilton made the move from Mercedes to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season and had a horrendous first year with the Scuderia. The Briton became the record holder of multiple unwanted records, including the Ferrari driver with the most race starts without a podium and the first Ferrari driver to get eliminated in Q1 three consecutive times.
Edited by Pranay Bhagi
