Bernie Ecclestone tells Lewis Hamilton he ‘shouldn’t be complaining’ over F1 title result
Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed claims that Lewis Hamilton unfairly lost out on the Formula One world title to Max Verstappen as “utter nonsense”.
Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth championship on the last lap of the season as Verstappen prevailed in the dramatic title shootout at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
But the result of the race was highly controversial after Verstappen benefitted from a late safety car and was allowed to line up behind Hamilton on a fresh set of soft tyres, where he was able to execute the crucial final-lap overtake.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff led furious criticism of how race director Michael Masi allowed the closing stages of the season to unfold while Hamilton suggested the result had been “manipulated”.
Mercedes later saw a protest of the race result thrown out by race stewards and Verstappen was eventually confirmed as champion four hours after crossing the chequered flag.
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But former F1 boss Ecclestone, 91, refuted suggestions that the result of the race had been unfair on Mercedes and Hamilton, while pointing to an earlier incident in the race in which Hamilton was able to remain in the lead despite cutting a corner under pressure from Verstappen.
“It’s complete and utter nonsense,” Ecclestone told Sky Sports News, after being asked if he thought Hamilton had been “robbed” by the stewards.
“If you want to think about it carefully, on the first lap of that race he [Hamilton] went off the circuit and came back on again and Verstappen stayed on the circuit and did absolutely nothing wrong.
“Lewis wasn’t punished at all for this so he shouldn’t be complaining too much. These things happen all the time in sports. We shouldn’t blame the race director, he did exactly what was the right thing to do.”
Mercedes lodged a notice of intention to appeal the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result, giving them until Thursday to launch a second protest.
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