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Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean claims race director Michael Masi made the right call at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. The driver believes the final lap was exciting from a TV viewer's point of view.
Lewis Hamilton famously lost to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the highly controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, giving the Dutchman his first title victory in the sport. A late safety car call by Michael Masi changed the Briton's odds of winning in an instant as Verstappen found himself on the Mercedes' rear wing with fresher tires.
The former Haas driver-turned-IndyCar pro believes Masi made the right call at the end of the race. He feels as though the safety car decision would have received criticism regardless of how many lapped cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. He said:
“There’s a few ways of seeing it. It would have been very strange to not unlap those cars and have Lewis first and then Max four cars behind over one lap for the world championship. And, on the other hand, for Lewis, it was definitely not a great call. But as a TV fan, as a spectator, as for the sport, I think Michael Masi made the right decision.”
Romain Grosjean claims it would not have been nice to have finished the championship under a safety car. The Frenchman also believes that while personally siding with Hamilton in 2021, Verstappen is a worthy winner due to his consistent performances throughout the season. He said:
“I don’t think the championship would have been nice to finish under the Safety Car. It would not have been nice to finish with the guys first and second being separated by a few cars. I was more Lewis’s side than Max – so I was kind of like ‘oh, Lewis lost it!’. Over the last part of the season, Mercedes made an incredible job. But I thought it was so cool to get those two guys going together.”
Romain Grosjean sided with Lewis Hamilton but acknowledged Max Verstappen's bad luck in 2021
Romain Grosjean believes Lewis Hamilton deserved to win the championship in Abu Dhabi. In the eyes of the Frenchman, Verstappen's consistency over the season, however, proved he is worthy of the title. The now-IndyCar driver also cited the bad luck Max had over the season, claiming the Dutchman lost a large number of points due to no fault of his own. He said:
“I think the wrong conception is to think that the world championship went on one lap. If we look at the full season, you know, Max had a puncture in Baku, Valtteri Bottas crashed into Verstappen in Hungary, there was the Silverstone race. So, in the end, I think if we look at how many points were lost by Verstappen – not necessarily by his fault – he was the one that deserved the championship more. On the Abu Dhabi race, Lewis deserved the championship more – he got unlucky over the last lap.”
Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean's 2021 favorite Lewis Hamilton's status in the sport is uncertain. The Briton's return is reportedly based on the results of the ongoing FIA inquiry that is set to be decided on the 18th of March.
