"It still sticks in the gullet": F1 pundit revisits Abu Dhabi 2021 scandal and Lewis Hamilton robbery after red flag stoppage of 2023 F1 Dutch GP

F1 pundit Peter Windsor feels the race stewards could have red-flagged the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, similar to how the 2023 Dutch GP was red-flagged a few days ago. The race at Zandvoort was stopped due to adverse weather conditions, after which the FIA asked every team to use a new set of intermediate tires for the restart.

Windsor feels something similar could have been done in the Abu Dhabi race in 2021 to make it less controversial. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the F1 pundit said:

“I was just thinking actually, to go on about it again, when the whole red flag thing came out at Zandvoort and they all stopped and then they told everybody what tyres to be on, why didn’t they do that at Abu Dhabi? If they’re going to stop the race, why didn’t they do that? Everybody must be on a new set of soft tyres, one-lap sprint to the finish – that would’ve been OK.”

Furthermore, Peter Windsor stated how the race directors' decisions were not good at all during the Abu Dhabi GP back in 2021. However, he also praised both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for their exceptional drives. He concluded:

“But to allow pit stops and then have the race start when it shouldn’t have? It still sticks in the gullet, that one. Nothing to do with Max deserving it or not, I just think it was an insanely bad decision at the wrong time.”

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Toto Wolff admits that he still thinks about 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP

Mercedes and Red Bull, and their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, were in a massive title battle back in 2021, which went down to the very last lap of the last race of that F1 season.

The questionable decisions taken by the race were etched in everyone's minds, even Mercedes' team boss Toto Wolff. Speaking to Matthew Syed of the Times back in January 2023, he said:

“It was tough after Abu Dhabi. I have always liked the principle that the stopwatch never lies; the team that wins is the one that deserves to be the champion. But this was different. At the end of the race, an individual took decisions that were not reflected anywhere in the rule book and were so drastic that they made the outcome unbelievable."

During the safety car period in the race, during which Nicholas Latifi's Williams car was cleared from the track, race director Michael Masi allowed any car between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to unlap themselves, which eventually allowed the Red Bull driver to catch up to Hamilton. This particular decision was the most controversial part of the entire race.