The controversial finish to an epic title struggle within the 2021 season didn’t go down properly with India’s first Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan.
A collection of questionable race management calls adopted the season finale in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, when Max Verstappen handed Lewis Hamilton on the ultimate lap to win his maiden title, denying the Briton a record-breaking eighth crown.
“How the entire scenario unfolded, it regarded like they needed Max to win. It was an enormous struggle for the championship however what occurred yesterday was not sport. You want an in depth struggle in Formula 1, nevertheless it’s the identical Must be honest in time,” Karthikeyan advised PTI.
Hamilton was on his technique to victory when the security automotive derailed after crashing on lap 53 of Nicolas Latifi’s 58-lap race.
In the final throw of the cube, Red Bull pitched Verstappen for smooth tires after deploying the security automotive, whereas Hamilton held out on his worn out laborious tyres.
In what went down as probably the most controversial name of Formula 1 the last decade, race director Michael Massey allowed 5 backmarkers to open himself on the ultimate lap, making it simpler for Verstappen to step over Hamilton.
According to the foundations, the security automotive ought to have gone on the again lap within the final lap of the race.
“Unless the clerk of the course feels that the presence of the safety car is still required, once the car on the last lap has passed the leader, the safety car shall return to the pits at the end of the following lap,” guidelines acknowledged in.
Social media was a divided area after the finale, with some calling Mercedes’ race technique too secure. However, Karthikeyan feels Mercedes was proper to not enable Hamilton into the pit after the crash.
“What Mercedes would have finished, Red Bull would have finished the other and the monitor would have been out to protest so it was very dangerous. Lewis had a lot velocity and 50 laps of life in laborious tyres, so why must you depart it ?
“There was a gap of more than 11 seconds between Hamilton and Verstappen before the safety car. What happened was not fair and Lewis would have deserved the eight-time champion in honor of Max, who is a very fast driver,” mentioned the 44-year-old , who raced in Formula 1 for 3 seasons between 2005 and 2012.
Interestingly, Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington labored with Karthikeyan throughout the Indian’s debut season with Jordan in 2005.
During my first season with Jordan “Lewis’s race engineer was my race engineer. He’s a very smart guy and he made all the right calls.”
Like many after the title showdown, Karthikeyan remembered former race director, the late Charlie Whiting, and mentioned that he would have dealt with the strain scenario higher.
“That’s what occurs once you’re below strain. He (Michael Massey) was being bombed everywhere in the radio.
So, what ought to be finished going ahead?
“Every state of affairs is totally different. He wants a stronger man on the high. Everyone mentioned that if there was Charlie Whiting, it might have been rather more acceptable. He by no means succumbed to group strain.
“On the open channel, he would have ignored the fixed pushback of the groups and continued along with his work. These circumstances are certain to occur, race management ought to have been extra ready for a scenario like yesterday. It should not have ended the way in which I did.
“We can provide him the good thing about the doubt that he was not doing anybody a favor yesterday and the decision was simply made below great strain and it was very fallacious.
“If you leave all controversies aside, Lewis definitely deserves to win if you look at the race in general. It was definitely his race. So not a fair result,” Karthikeyan mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
