If Lewis Hamilton and team Mercedes can’t take his eighth F1 title, we will! Fans of the seven-time world champion from all across the world assembled on social media to sign a petition to bring back the trophy he lost in 2021 abu Dhabi. More than 80,000 people signed the petition against the unfair decision made by steward Michael Masi back in 2021, which took, or as many say, stole the eighth world championship win from Lewis Hamilton. Fans are calling out to honor the Mercedes start with that eighth title as he deserves it.
Indeed, in the entire history of Formula One, the 2021 Championship remained the most dramatic one. Controversial too. Hamilton was consecutively winning the championship until Max Verstappen put a full stop. Since 2021, there have been 25 races; Max won 17 of them, and Hamilton ZERO. This is what hurts more! But it would’ve hurt less if Hamilton had secured his eighth world championship already. He would not have to return in 2022 only if his ultimate goal had been achieved. But since the reality went with a different plot, instead of Lewis Hamilton, who has been leading the driver’s standing in the 2021 championship, the Dutchman won the race.
Check out the petition at Change.org.
Are These Petitions Worth Putting An Impact On FIA To Return The 2021 Title To Lewis Hamilton?
No doubt, Lewis Hamilton managed to grab onto his lead, and he also rose fans on their feet to shoutout for his extraordinary eighth championship win. But things changed when Nicholas Latifi crashed at turn 14, and a safety car arrived. In the meantime, Verstappen pitted for the fresh soft tyres. Hamilton should have gone to change the tyres too, but he did not because it was not wise to take the risk of losing position.
Lewis still led the race, but then the F1 director, Michael Masi, stepped in. He said that only the 5 cars standing between Verstappen and Hamilton are allowed to lap each other. Now what? The Red Bull driver succeeded in claiming the advantage for the final lap. It was wrong; yes, fans know it. And that is why they are appealing to FIA to make the correct decision even after two years.
But the question is, are these petitions going to have any bit of impact on F1’s head to overturn the result of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result?
Right after the inappropriate decision was taken by Michael, team Mercedes prompted a protest. But the stewards dismissed the protest. Because Michael Masi is the race coordinator, and he has the “overriding authority.” However, he does not have any authority over fans. So the Mercedes fandom from that day till today never sat quietly. They started asking for a fair result the day after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021.
Currently, the petition that started over a year ago is gaining swift momentum. On Tuesday, we saw the hashtag, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, trending on Twitter. And now, over 80,000 people have already signed it for Hamilton to get back his eighth crown. But sadly, it is the harsh truth that these petitions are nothing worth making changes. Even team Mercedes had to end their protest. And the most important man Hamilton himself moved on from the nightmare.
