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After a tense battle for the world drivers' championship title during the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Carlos Sainz opened up about his thoughts on the on-track fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The Spanish driver felt that the clash between the two was completely clean and fair, since no contact occurred in the final lap that decided who would be crowned the champion. Sainz also admitted to congratulating both drivers, feeling that whoever won that night would be a worthy champion.
The Spaniard's comments came after the race at the Yas Marina Circuit in 2021, where he crossed the line to take third place. Max Verstappen secured his first title after a restart was initiated with only one lap to go, and with Hamilton closely ahead of him during the restart, there were concerns that the two drivers would crash in the efforts to stay ahead. Sainz was grateful that it didn't happen.
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"I think, personal opinion, it was a great battle up front and they managed to keep it clean, no crashes, no contact.
"Just a good battle that this sport deserved for this last race and the first thing I did was congratulate both Max and Lewis on the podium because I believe that whoever was winning this weekend was going to deserve it because they've both driven incredibly and they both would have deserved the title, " Carlos Sainz added [via Motorsport.com]
During the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a crash involving Nicholas Latifi brought out the safety car to allow the marshals to clear the track, during which Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, while Lewis Hamilton stayed out. After the track was cleared, race control allowed the five cars between the Dutchman and the Briton to unlap themselves, putting the two championship contenders face-to-face.
After the restart, using his fresher tyres, the Red Bull driver overtook the Mercedes driver to secure the championship title.
Carlos Sainz shared his thoughts on the race control's decision
Speaking after the season finale, Carlos Sainz also shared his thoughts on race control's odd decision to allow the lapped cars to overtake Hamilton and the Safety Car to re-join the back of the pack. There were two cars ahead of the then-Ferrari driver, which he admitted almost cost him his podium finish.
"At the beginning I was told they were not going to be allowed to unlap themselves, the people in front of me. Then they decided to unlap themselves and some people unlapped themselves but there was still, I think it was an Aston Martin and a McLaren, [Daniel] Ricciardo, between the two leaders and myself.
"This I've never had before having to restart the race with these two guys in front of me, one fighting for a P3, so I do admit it was a strange one and maybe something to look at because it was very strange to see and it nearly cost me my podium, to be honest," said Sainz [via Motorsport.com]
For Carlos Sainz, the 2021 season ended with him scoring 164.5 points and securing fifth place in the championship standings.
