Max Verstappen won the 2021 Driver’s World Championship, narrowly beating Lewis Hamilton under controversial circumstances. The great Briton was on his way to win his fifth consecutive championship and his eighth overall. But the Dutchman broke the streak of the Mercedes superstar. Albeit Mercedes won the constructor title in 2021, the Red Bull driver took the driver’s title. But the final race of 2021 in Abu Dhabi is infamous for the controversies around the Grand Prix. Then race director Michael Masi allowed only the lapped cars to overtake the safety car.
That way, Max Verstappen had an added advantage. It seemed like the FIA Race Director took matters into his own hands to change the script of the Abu Dhabi GP and the 2021 season on the last lap. Anyway, on the final lap, Hamilton was still ahead of Verstappen. But the Dutch driver had fresher tires that enabled him to beat Hamilton eventually. It was not fair to the seven-time champion. But the Dutch driver won his maiden title with Red Bull that year. Since then, he has never looked back. But James Vowles took a jibe at the current three-time champion recently.
Former Mercedes Chief Strategist Takes A Jibe At The Maiden Title Of Max Verstappen
Clearly, the 2021 season ended with a lot of controversies. But that season saw an epic battle between two great drivers throughout the year. It was the last time F1 had so much competition. Since 2022, Max Verstappen and Red Bull have dominated the grid in an unstoppable fashion. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton had back-to-back winless seasons. Then, last year, James Vowles left Mercedes to join the Williams Racing team as their new team principal. But it seems Vowles still feels bad about the way the 2021 season ended. Recently, in an interview with the High-Performance podcast, Vowles talked about the importance of winning championships cleanly.
The Williams boss mentioned winning titles is great, but doing so in an unfair and unsportsmanlike fashion will cause anyone to have regrets forever. Moreover, it is true that they will have championships to their names. However, James Vowles added that it would be “Sullied, muddied and not pure.” Anyway, after the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, the governing body fired Michael Masi after a lot of criticism on social media and in the grid. Masi did not follow the method to restart the race correctly. That cost the great Briton his eighth title. Now, only time can say if Hamilton can win his eighth title with Mercedes this year or later with Ferrari.
Four-Time Champion Praised The Current F1 Champion
Alain Prost likes Max Verstappen’s way of driving and his attitude. Recently, the four-time champion told Motorsport Magazine that he likes Max because he thinks and speaks differently. Moreover, the Frenchman liked the fact that he focused on winning and racing, even in the last Las Vegas GP.
Prost thinks it is alright to have a different approach. Earlier, Max Verstappen said he did not like the sprint races. That really praised the four-time champion. Lastly, the former McLaren star mentioned that he likes the fact that Max says what he thinks, and he’s not afraid of the “Political game.”
Stay tuned to Sports News International for more such updates about your favorite F1 team.
