Lewis Hamilton called the Abu Dhabi GP “manipulated” during the race on his radio.
The Abu Dhabi GP will go down in history as one of the most farcical races in recent memory. It was shrouded in controversy and a blatant robbery took place for the world to see.
The victim of said robbery was Hamilton. Having led most of the race, he was hard done by a Race Director who made up a rule on the fly and made a championship rival on fresher tyres sit right behind him as the Safety Car concluded.
The soft tyre-carrying Red Bull beating Hamilton’s Mercedes on used hard tyres was a foregone conclusion. Everything he had done and every hope of an eighth world championship was dashed in one lap.
Hamilton called the Abu Dhabi GP “manipulated” during the race on his radio, seconds before he was overtaken.
In a radio message not heard on TV, Hamilton said, “This has been manipulated, man!” as quoted by Planet F1.
Shell-shocked
Mercedes and Hamilton were left shocked at the outrageous decision from the stewards. When even Hamilton’s most ardent haters supported him, you know how badly the authorities have messed up.
Hamilton’s race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington said, “I’m just speechless Lewis, absolutely speechless.”
Hamilton remained silent throughout the cooldown lap. He sat in his car in parc ferme, still unable to come to terms with how he had lost the championship he had a stronghold on for the entire race. He was so flustered that he forgot to park his car in the P2 spot reserved for the driver who finishes second.
The Mercedes driver remained classy in defeat. He gave interviews, congratulated the man he lost to, and celebrated on the podium without a fuss. One can only imagine what he was going through, and we hold our hands up and admit defeat.