There is no doubt that the controversy over Abu Dhabi's last lap has left Meben "heartbroken".
Although Meben has decided not to appeal further against the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix safety car incident, they expressed their attitude at the FIA year-end awards ceremony: Hamilton and team leader Wolff were absent.
Allison received the 2021F1 Manufacturers' Championship trophy on his behalf
Toto even said in an interview that at this stage, he cannot be 100% sure whether Hamilton will return to F1 next season. But there is no doubt that this is a season of mutual achievement between Verstappen and Hamilton. Verstappen won, but Hamilton was equally respectable.
Highlights of the 2021 verstappen-Hamilton brawl
Although this is Hamilton's lowest winning percentage since 2013, his pole number is even half that of last year. While there is still room to be done to surpass the legendary Schumacher's eighth crown, we should also pay attention to the fact that this season Hamilton led his teammate Bottas by 161.5 points, and even in the round matchup with Verstappen, he was the one who needed to choose to avoid collisions.
Even so, in the worst case scenario, he will try to do everything he can, especially in the Brazil sprint, Hamilton started from 20th, after 27 laps, he has reached the 5th position, and in the main event, he finally won the 5th place from 10th place. This is already arguably one of the greatest performances in F1 history.
This is Hamilton's 15th season, he's 36 years old and he knows he doesn't have much time to fight for his 8th title in F1, at least in a top team. So we saw his best side again this year, at least more than Hamilton paid in previous seasons when there was a lack of competition.
And all this is also the pressure that Verstappen brought to him. The FIA may have done something stupid in the last minute, but if Hamilton did miraculously hold on to the final title, then now we're talking about another good story, isn't it?
Hamilton won more respect in this defeat. And next year, in a new season that is still unclear, we will see 4 world champions competing on the same stage, Hamilton, who has been officially named a jazz, will continue to attack the 8 crowns, and the new king Verstappen, can he rise to the top again from this chaotic season? Let's witness it with Five Star Sports!