Sebastian Vettel slammed the FIA for ruining the season, and called them out for their inconsistencies this season.
The FIA have well and truly lived up to their nickname of MaFIA this season. They saved their worst-ever call for the final race of the season, and executed it on the title-deciding final lap as well.
The Abu Dhabi GP was in Lewis Hamilton’s bag until the FIA decided to play spoilsport. They essentially gifted Max Verstappen a position right behind Hamilton’s car, a situation he took full advantage of.
Verstappen seized the championship from the man on course to winning it, and while he deserves to be the champion, it came through extremely tainted means and heartbreak for Hamilton.
Vettel slammed the FIA for ruining the season, and stated that although he understands the difficulty of the job, there is a lot of scope for improvement.
“Ideally, we’d like more consistency, but there’s also a human side. It’s probably difficult to get it 100% right,” he said, as quoted by express.co.uk.
“But I don’t think it has been any better or any worse than the past, with the exception of the fines for reprimands, in terms of cash. That’s just unnecessary.
“I think it looks stupid to ask for 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 (euros)… I would like to see the receipt for what happens with the money!”
Overtake king
Vettel wasn’t anywhere near championship glory, but the four-time world champion did win one award. He won the crypto.com Overtake Award, adding a nice little trophy to his collection.
Vettel reached Yas Marina on 127 overtakes, two ahead of Fernando Alonso. He overtook five more times and finished on 132 to take the award. Alonso took second place, while retiring Alfa Romeo driver finished third with 127.
Read more: Vettel furious with drivers for qualifying antics – “Always the same people jumping the queue”