Mercedes have put the automobile from Lewis Hamilton’s controversial 2021 championship defeat on show within the foyer at their manufacturing unit.
Hamilton final drove the W12 when he misplaced the world championship to Max Verstappen within the closing race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
The result of the race was notoriously swung when race director Michael Masi broke the principles by arranging a restart on the ultimate lap with out having allowed all lapped vehicles to rejoin the lead lap. Masi was changed and left the FIA the next yr.
Mercedes had been outraged by the conclusion to the championship, which price Hamilton a record-breaking eighth world championship, and unsuccessfully protested the dealing with of the race. They determined in opposition to taking the matter to the Worldwide Courtroom of Attraction however Hamilton and crew principal Toto Wolff refused to seem on the FIA’s prize giving gala.
The crew has endured three largely unsuccessful seasons since then. Hamilton is about to hitch Ferrari on the finish of the yr. Now the crew has put the automobile from the controversial 2021 finale on show on the reception of their manufacturing unit in Brackley.
Wolff mentioned the crew meant to recollect the highs and lows of that season by placing the W12 on show. “It’s a particular automobile as a result of it’s additionally a automobile that turned the scenario round after Brazil, the place we thought the championship is gone, and it was an excellent automobile for the summer season,” he informed Excessive Efficiency. “And it’s a automobile that reminds all of us that issues might go flawed in a short time, however issues could possibly be proper additionally in a short time.
“It’s mainly how life goes. And that automobile’s a stark reminder of all the enjoyment and all of the ache a scenario can carry with it.”
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He admitted he nonetheless thinks concerning the circumstances of Hamilton’s 2021 championship defeat “each week.”
“I primarily give it some thought as a result of I feel Lewis ought to have deserved to be the best of all instances with eight world championship titles,” he defined. “You’ll be able to argue all alongside about that yr, I feel Max and Lewis had been deserving champions.
“There have been cases through the yr the place Max misplaced some factors that he shouldn’t have misplaced. You take a look at Silverstone, you take a look at the crash in Monza each of them had. So each deserving champions. However on that individual afternoon in Abu Dhabi, it was unfair.”
Wolff has sharply criticised Masi’s dealing with of the championship and accused him of disrespecting drivers. He mentioned he tried to help the race director, who took over the position following his predecessor Charlie Whiting’s loss of life two years earlier.
“I actually tried to talk to Michael and information him all alongside the yr and converse to him and say, pay attention, I’ve been on this sport for a very long time, hearken to the drivers, don’t at all times be cussed in your decision-making, don’t be conceited.
“I attempted that for the nice of the game and clearly additionally for us as a crew, to not be weak to conditions that could possibly be completely detrimental. So in that sense, simply what occurred is inexcusable.
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“Now, you might say the empathy ought to make me realise how he feels. I realise how he feels and I do know that’s not good, and unhealthy. However he might have considered all of it yr lengthy when individuals, not solely me, tried to help [him] in the precise manner.
“So generally you need to simply realise that somebody is simply doing his personal factor or taking his personal choices. For me, I don’t care about it any extra.”
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