Christian Horner lauds Lewis Hamilton for handling the 2021 Abu Dhabi scandal with “dignity and respect”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently said that Lewis Hamilton handled the 2021 Abu Dhabi scandal with "dignity and respect" despite being on the wrong end of the result.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP ending will go down as one of the most controversial in the history of the sport, as it saw the race director taking control of the matters and implementing the rules inconsistently. The scenario saw Hamilton lose his lead as well as the championship to his rival Max Verstappen on the final lap.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Red Bull team boss applauded Lewis Hamilton for not losing his cool and maintaining dignity despite the controversy. He said:

“I felt the way that Lewis handled that disappointment after the race, hats off to him. Because he would have been even more disappointed. A record-breaking World Championship has just disappeared but he handled himself with dignity and respect."

“I shook his hand in the driver’s room after the race and he had the good grace to say well done.”

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F1 team principal makes a bold prediction about Lewis Hamilton's 2024 season

McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown has said that he won't be surprised if Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes make a charge and end up winning the 2024 world championship.

Speaking with Speedcafe, Brown pointed out that he was excited about McLaren's prospects ahead of the new season but was wary of Mercedes and Ferrari. He said:

"Mercedes or Ferrari, these teams have everything they need and are great teams and I wouldn’t be surprised if we were sitting here and all of a sudden, Mercedes was back to Lewis winning his eighth championship. It’s very tough and competitive now. I don’t think you can rule anybody out.”

The American added that he was looking forward to Red Bull's RB20 and the magic of Adrian Newey in the 2024 season.

“We like what we’re seeing in the wind tunnel and CFD at the moment, so we feel like we’re going to take a step forward. How much? The great mystery on Red Bull is when did they turned off the development of their car to focus on next year [2024], and I think the answer is probably pretty early, so we’ll just have to wait and see how much Adrian Newey magic comes out of the oven so to speak to see where we are," Brown said.

Finishing P2 in the Constructor's Championship behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will be optimistic heading into the new season and a possible title run against the mighty Max Verstappen.