Pundit claims the crisis of Lewis Hamilton's career began with Michael Masi's AD2021 mistake

Lewis Hamilton had the 2021 drivers' title seemingly under his belt before the then-F1 race director, Michael Masi's handling of the final stage of the race, which bore the deep well that the Briton has found himself in, as F1 pundit Peter Windsor claimed. The latter shared how that day laid the foundations of the struggles that Hamilton has been facing currently.

Between 2014-20, Hamilton had only been beaten once in the drivers' championship, with a near miss in 2016 against his teammate, Nico Rosberg. Moreover, 2021 was reckoned by many to be the year where history was poised to be rewritten as the Briton was on the verge of claiming his eighth world title.

Max Verstappen and the then-Mercedes driver arrived at the Yas Marina Circuit tied on points, as the championship looked to be falling into Hamilton's camp, with him having led the majority of the race. However, a late race safety car and chaos caused during the restart resulted in the race earning a tarred reputation.

With a record-setting championship falling out of his hands on the final lap, the Briton had to reignite his spark to get back to racing, as he distanced himself from social media after the race. But, since his return, he has only won two races and his new chapter with Ferrari has not gone the way in the initial stages as he would have hoped for.

Windsor then claimed that the 40-year-old has not been able to shrug off the incident from his mind, which is now affecting him on the track, as he said:

"For sure. And I did say that at the time. I said this is not something that Lewis [Hamilton] will be able to shrug off. And it all began then, the mistake Michael Masi made to restart the race when he did, and Toto Wolff not doing enough, I think, to defend the whole situation on behalf of Lewis."

"But from Lewis's perspective, that should have been fought right to the end. Still today, you think, how on earth did they get away with that? Just complete breach of the sporting regulations at a critical moment that lost a guy a world championship. That's unbelievable really when he led the whole race. And so [that’s] still taking its toll even today for sure."

Since 2021, Lewis Hamilton has had a best finish of third in the drivers' standings, back in 2023.

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Lewis Hamilton's desire for an eighth title is the driving force behind him

Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Source: Getty

Last year saw Lewis Hamilton claim his lowest position in the drivers' standings ever in his career. The 40-year-old had never finished lower than seventh and hoped that his Ferrari move would help him move in the upper echelons of the standings.

However, a move to Maranello has taken him up to sixth only. Though this may cause concern about Hamilton's current stint to some, his ex-boss, Toto Wolff, asserted that the Briton still has some goals to tick in F1, as he said (via F1)

"Lewis has unfinished business in F1."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has scored 109 points before the summer break, with 10 rounds left to go before his first season with Ferrari concludes.