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Max Verstappen picked up a historic championship win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as arguably one of the more dubious decision-making from the race director Michael Masi handed him a huge advantage on the SC restart on lap 57.
Verstappen, after qualifying on pole on Saturday in a Red Bull, that never appeared to be in the same pace bracket as Mercedes throughout the weekend, lost the initiative at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Running on a set of soft tires that should have given him the advantage at the start of the race. Verstappen, however, lost the race lead with a poor getaway as the lights went out.
Throughout the race, it did appear that the Dutch driver just didn’t have the pace in his Red Bull to challenge Hamilton’s Mercedes who was able to stretch his legs without too much of an effort more often than not. Red Bull’s gamble to pit during the virtual safety car for a new set of hard tires didn’t pay off for Max Verstappen as the Dutch driver just didn’t have the pace to catch up to Hamilton.
All this, however, changed when the Williams of Nicholas Latifi careened off into the walls on Lap 54, bringing out the safety car. The safety car period saw Michael Masi's controversial decision, coupled with Mercedes strategy calls, leave Lewis Hamilton on his worn-out tires and vulnerable to Max Verstappen on his fresh set of soft tires.
Verstappen would duly grab the opportunity presented to him by the race director as he would overtake Hamilton as soon as the opportunity presented itself and go on to pick up a much-deserved title victory after a stellar performance all year.
Making it heartening to watch was Alex Albon coming on team radio and emphatically proclaiming how Max Verstappen deserved his share of luck that had deserted him all season.
Is Max Verstappen’s title in danger after Mercedes’ intent to appeal?
The almost haphazard way in which the restart was handled left Mercedes boss Toto Wolff fuming and led to an immediate protest from the team against the process followed for the SC restart.
The initial protest was dismissed by stewards but Mercedes has lodged an intention to appeal against the stewards’ verdict.
Although Mercedes could have a case as the SC restart was admittedly mismanaged, according to multiple pundits like Karun Chandhok and Mark Hughes, it would be tough to overturn the race result. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is the 2021 F1 champion.
