Williams team boss takes a jibe at Max Verstappen for Abu Dhabi 2021 win - “You’ll have a championship but it’ll be sullied and muddied”

Williams Team Principal James Vowles recently took a dig at Max Verstappen for winning his maiden world championship in a 'muddied' fashion.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP will go down as one of the most controversial moments in F1 history as it saw the FIA race director taking matters into his own hands and changing the script of the race and 2021 season on the last lap.

Max Verstappen got an advantage on rival Lewis Hamilton on the last lap after the race director allowed only the lapped cars between the pair to overtake the safety car. The Red Bull driver got the advantage on fresher rubber and passed the seven-time world champion on the last lap to take an epic title.

The ending drew the ire of the f1 fans and personnel alike for months on social media and resulted in the firing of the race director. While appearing on the High-Performance podcast, the Williams team boss spoke about the importance of winning the title cleanly. He said:

"You can win a world championship. But if you've done so in a way that is not fair and sportsmanlike... You will have regrets for life. Yeah, you'll have a championship to your name... But it would be sullied, it would be muddied and it wouldn't be pure."

Former F1 world champion praises Max Verstappen for his approach as a driver

Former four-time world champion Alain Prost has claimed that he likes the approach towards driving from the current three-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Speaking to Motorsport Magazine, the Frenchman said:

“I like him very much because he’s a little bit different in the way he thinks and speaks. Even in Las Vegas, he was focused on racing and winning. People can like him or not, but at least you must recognize you are not obliged to have the same approach.

"For me, it’s good to see a driver like him. I was very pleased to listen to what he also said about not liking the sprint races. At least he says what he thinks and is not afraid of the political game. I like that.”

Max Verstappen is known for not mincing his words and for his straightforward approach on and off the track. This has led to him facing criticism from F1 fans online but the Dutch driver has stated on several occasions that he wasn't bothered by it.