Lewis Hamilton told the world exactly how he felt about the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of 2021. The Mercedes driver was on the cusp of winning a record eighth F1 world title, but after a safety car was brought out with six laps to go, former race director Michael Masi intervened and turned proceedings completely on their head.His improvisation of the safety car rules enabled Max Verstappen to close the 11-second gap between himself and Hamilton and allowed a one-lap shootout between the two rivals to decide who would be crowned champion.
Verstappen, on a new set of soft tyres, passed Hamilton on wheels over 40 laps old to take the race victory and the title.In a revealing interview with Vanity Fair, the seven-time champion reflected on the “disbelief” he felt after being “cheated” out of winning the title for the fifth consecutive year. “You see things start to unfold and my worst fears came alive," he said. "I was like, there’s no way they’re going to cheat me out of this.
There’s no way. That won’t happen. Surely not. READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton admits to 'f***ing' with FIA over jewellery ban as he makes 'power' dig“I don’t know if I can really put into words the feeling that I had.
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