2021 Abu Dhabi GP debrief: Mercedes,’ not Masi, cost Hamilton win (3rd Update)
Since the toxic Lewis Hamilton fanboys on social media cannot let go of the fact he lost the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP because of poor Mercedes strategy rather than anything Michael Masi did, we are re-publishing this article to remind the fanboys that their toxicity is misdirected.
Be sure to read all the way to the end.
November 1, 2022
Besides losing the championship race in Abu Dhabi last year, in fact, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have a history of poor decision-making that ultimately cost Hamilton race wins. Just in the last three years:
Austria 2020: Winning by 15+ Seconds when Safety Car comes out, Mercedes decided not to pit either car. As a result, Hamilton is put under pressure by Albon (on fresh softs) and makes an error up, giving him a 5s Penalty
Monza 2020: Team told Hamilton to pit from a dominant lead under SC when the pitlane was closed, Hamilton penalized and drops to last
Russia 2020: Team tells Pole-sitter Hamilton it’s fine to do a practice start at the end of the pitlane, Hamilton hit with a 10-second penalty and lost the race
Sakhir 2020: Botched Mercedes pitstop. George Russell, subbing for Hamilton, loses race.
France 2021: -Team tells Hamilton “We think Verstappen’s going to pit again” Hamilton radios back, “I agree let’s make sure we undercut THEM this time” Later…Hamilton radios “Why did no one F*cking listens to me when I say it’s gunna be a 2 stopper F*cking hell”. Hamilton only stopped once while Verstappen, on a 2-stopper, passed Lewis Hamilton with two laps to go to win
Hungary 2021: Mercedes misjudged track conditions at the race restart, keeping Hamilton out for the standing start on intermediates as the entire rest of the field pitted for mediums, Hamilton forced to pit a lap later and dropping to the back of the pack. That allowed Ocon to take a lead that he’d hold for almost all the 70 laps at the Hungaroring.
Monza 2021: A slow Mercedes pitstop resulted in a dramatic crash between title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen that took both drivers out of the race cleared the way for Daniel Ricciardo to claim a sensational victory in the Italian Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi 2021: As we show below, the decision by Hamilton and Mercedes to not pit for fresh tires as soon as Latifi crashed cost Hamilton the race win and the championship. In the seconds that passed after the accident, there were eight (8) possible scenarios for race leader Hamilton and his team to choose from. 6 of the 8 would have resulted in Hamilton winning the race. They chose wrong and lost.
Silverstone 2022: Mercedes team should have simply waited 5 laps longer and go to softs. Hamilton’s pace was good enough. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed his first Formula 1 victory after a breathtaking, the Spaniard finishing ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Hungary 2022: Hamilton has DRS issues, that should have been detected before race. Max Verstappen won from P10 with pitch-perfect execution of Red Bull’s strategy, while Lewis Hamilton finished second, ahead of his pole-sitting Mercedes teammate George Russell.
USA 2022: Team put Hamilton on hard tires instead of mediums on final stop. As a result, Max Verstappen emerged victorious at the end of an action-packed race, overhauling and fending off Lewis Hamilton in a tense finale.
Mexico 2022: Team and Hamilton decided to start the race on medium tires then switch to hards on a 1-stopper. Max Verstappen realized on Friday the Hard tires were too slow, and hence started on softs and then pitted for mediums to beat Hamilton.
The purpose of this update is to show that Mercedes and Hamilton have a history of making wrong strategy choices, as they did in Abu Dhabi 2021.
November 1, 2022
The bias British media and their hero, Lewis Hamilton, are still whining about how Lewis Hamilton was robbed of his 8th world title in Abu Dhabi last year.
As we show below, it was the joint decision by the Mercedes team and Lewis Hamilton to not pit for fresh tires that cost them the race – as we outline below.
Even if Masi let all the cars unlap themselves, Verstappen still would have beaten Hamilton.
It’s get rather old, and sad, that Mercedes and Hamilton continue to try and deflect the blame away from their mental failure in the heat of the moment (i.e. they choked) and onto Race Director Michael Masi.
September 21, 2022
There was much talk after the 2021 Abu Dhabi F1 finale that Lewis Hamilton was robbed of the race win and his 8th title because Race Director Michael Masi did not follow the rule book to the tee in an effort to give the fans a green flag finish.
When the caution flew late in the race for Nicholas Latifi’s crash in Turn 14 with 5 laps to go, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team had a decision to make – pit for fresh tires or stay out.
Hamilton was leading the race when Latifi crashed and appeared headed to the race win and his 8th F1 title.
In the seconds that passed after the accident, there were eight (8) possible scenarios for race leader Hamilton and his team to choose from. 6 of the 8 would have resulted in Hamilton winning the race.
In this article we show that the Mercedes team’s choice of scenarios was far more to blame for losing the race than Michael Masi’s actions. Mercedes, in the split seconds they had to make a decision, choked.
Before we lay out the 8 scenarios, let’s not forget that there were 5 laps to go when Latifi crashed. Plenty of time to get the car and debris cleared, and with so much on the line for the championship, teams had to assume the Race Stewards would do everything possible to have the race finish under green flag racing.
To assume otherwise was simply naive, or not well-prepared.
However, we look at both – finish under green or finish under caution.
2021 Abu Dhabi GP
8 Scenarios on whether to pit for fresh rubber
| No. | Hamilton Decision | Verstappen Decision | Green Flag Final Lap | Outcome |
| #1 | Pits for Red Pirellis | Stays out on worn tires and assumes race lead | Hamilton right on Verstappen’s rear wing when green flies. With new tires to Verstappen’s old, Hamilton easily passes Verstappen | Hamilton Wins |
| #2 | Pits for Red Pirellis | Pits for Red Pirellis | Hamilton leads Verstappen when green flies, both on fresh soft Pirellis, Hamilton holds off Verstappen | Hamilton Wins |
| #3 | Stays out on worn hard Pirellis | Stays out on worm hard Pirellis | Hamilton leads Verstappen when green flies, both on worn hard Pirellis, Hamilton holds off Verstappen | Hamilton Wins |
| #4 | Stays out on worn hard Pirellis | Pits for Red Pirellis | Verstappen right on Hamilton’s rear wing when green flies. With new rubber, Verstappen passes Hamilton | Verstappen Wins |
| No. | Hamilton Decision | Verstappen Decision | Race finishes under caution | Outcome |
| #5 | Pits for Red Pirellis | Stays out on worn tires and assumes race lead | Hamilton behind Verstappen at checkered | Verstappen wins |
| #6 | Pits for Red Pirellis | Pits for Red Pirellis | Hamilton and Verstappen pit together, Hamilton exits pits still in front of Verstappen. Hamilton ahead of Verstappen when checkered flies | Hamilton Wins |
| #7 | Stays out on worn hard Pirellis | Stays out on worm hard Pirellis | Hamilton leads Verstappen all the way to the finish under yellow | Hamilton Wins |
| #8 | Stays out on worn hard Pirellis | Pits for Red Pirellis | Verstappen right on Hamilton’s rear wing, but race never goes green and finishes parading behind the pace car | Hamilton Wins |
Hindsight is always 20-20, but this table of scenarios shows that Mercedes had an 80% (6 of 8) chance to win and Verstappen a 20% (2 of 8) chance to win.
Had Hamilton pitted for Red Pirellis instead of staying out on worn hard tires, he would have had an 80% chance of victory.
Hamilton and Mercedes chose to stay out on worn hard tires with only a 20% chance to win.
They lost. Their bad decision-making is never discussed; swept under the rug by Mercedes to save embarrassment that an energy drink company outsmarted the mighty car manufacturer.
Horner Contacted Masi after 2021 Abu Dhabi GP
Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed on Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid podcast when asked if he had spoken to Masi, that he did, at least twice.
“I felt that it wasn’t fair, the way he had been treated because I think that he’d done the best that he could following the principles that have been told.
“The only thing he screwed up on was not allowing the final two cars at the back of the field to unlap themselves. But everything [else] that he’d done, you know, it was absolutely by the book and followed the principles of getting them to finish racing on track.
“And as we saw recently in Monza, nobody wants to see a race diluted and finished under a Safety Car.
“So he did everything to get that race going again, which would have been a horrendous finish to the season, see it just diluted and peter out under a Safety Car.
“And then I think the reaction after the race, there was a huge amount of abuse sent out to him, there was death threats to his family. No individual deserves to go through what he did.”
Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com