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Edited by Jiten171 at 27-12-2023 07:08 AM
F1 had a big controversy? What exactly happened? It turns out that Hamilton was leading for 57 laps, but in the final moments, on the last lap, he received a surprise from Michael Masi, the FIA race director. Let's take a look at what surprise Michael Masi gave to Hamilton.
When the race reached the 53rd lap, Hamilton was leading with a 10-second advantage over Verstappen. At this point, unless there was a special situation, Hamilton was set to win both the race and the annual championship. However, Latifi and Mick Schumacher, the two drivers with the least presence on the track, teamed up to write a magical script. They had a contact while fighting for position. Latifi lost control and hit the wall, triggering yellow flags and the safety car.
Verstappen, who was already in a desperate situation, took advantage of this opportunity to enter the pit, fitting a set of soft tires. This was his only chance to turn things around. At this point, Red Bull's biggest hope was for a quick race restart or the display of the red flag to interrupt the race. They feared the race ending under the safety car's leadership. While Latifi's brake disc caught fire, the overall situation was not particularly serious, so the red flag scenario was initially ruled out. Under the safety car's guidance, the race quickly entered the final three laps. The possibility of the race not restarting was increasing. From the expressions of the Red Bull staff, it could be seen that they had essentially accepted this fact.
However, in the 57th lap, which was the penultimate lap of the race, the race informed the slower cars that they could unlap themselves. Under normal circumstances, after all the slower cars return to the tail of the field, the safety car would lead for one more lap, and then the race would restart. At this point, the race had reached the 57th lap, meaning the race should have ended when the safety car withdrew. The race director made an unusual decision. Right on the lap when all the slower cars were allowed to unlap, the safety car withdrew, giving the race one last lap. Clearly, Hamilton's hard tires had endured for over half the race, while Verstappen had just switched to soft tires. Their speeds were in completely different leagues. Mercedes team principal Wolff, in a conversation with the FIA, shouted in despair: 'This is not right.'
The safety car influenced the championship outcome, marking the biggest controversy in F1 history. According to the FIA, if the safety car completes the race, it will kill the most exciting competition. So they made a fair decision, allowing the two drivers to directly battle it out on the last lap. As everyone knows, this was very unfair to Hamilton.
It seems like 'the race was really manipulated!' Such unfair treatment explains why Hamilton is so angry. |
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