Hamilton wasn’t expecting Abu Dhabi ‘apology’ anyway

Maria Bright 22 Mar 2022 7:30 AM

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, talking pre-Bahrain GP. March 2022. — Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, talking to the media before the Bahrain Grand Prix. March 2022.

The results of the FIA’s investigation into Abu Dhabi have been published, but there was no apology offered to Lewis Hamilton or Mercedes.

Michael Masi, the former FIA race director, ordered only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Max Verstappen through in the closing stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

This provided Verstappen, who was on fresh tyres, with a huge opportunity to overtake Hamilton.

The report said the decision was a “human error” but Masi “acted in good faith and to the best of his knowledge”.

Hamilton said: “We cannot go back, unfortunately, and change the past so I just look at what I can do now.

“I wasn’t expecting an apology and it’s not something I’ve focused on.

“We know that’s the way it is and that was probably not going to happen. But at least there is that transparency, and it’s been called a human error and that’s a positive step.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was infuriated by what happened in deciding the title.

Ciao Stefano 👋 pic.twitter.com/DBhCLbfu7p

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 20, 2022

Masi is no longer the race director, with rumours in December suggesting if the FIA got rid of Masi, Mercedes would drop their appeal. Mercedes denied that was the case.

Wolff said: “Whether the report is weak or hard, it’s a good step forward in terms of governance.

“You can read it either way but for us, there are the words that say ‘human error’ and the acknowledgement of that is very important.

“Going on about Abu Dhabi doesn’t make my life any easier. The trophy is in someone else’s cabinet and the chapter is closed.”

Both Verstappen and Hamilton have said they want to draw a line under the events of Abu Dhabi and move on to focus on this season, with another long year ahead in Formula 1.