Before getting into the ongoing fallout from Abu Dhabi let’s get one thing clear, what happened in those final few laps was unprecedented.
With an epic Formula 1 championship duel about to be decided and under incredible pressure from all sides, FIA race director Michael Masi faced a decision that was always going to upset one side and delight the other.
What was clear, after Nicholas Latifi’s car was recovered, was there was no reason to red flag or not to go green for the final lap.
The question he had to very quickly answer though was what would be the fairest way to do it?
Leaving all the lapped cars in place was the easiest solution, but came with the very real probability that Max Verstappen wouldn’t be able to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the lead, even if he had struggled to keep up with the Mercedes for the preceding 57 laps.
The decision Masi ultimately made, only permitting the five cars between the two drivers to overtake, would allow them to battle it out on track for that last tour of Yas Marina Circuit.
This, however, had several flaws. One was this had never happened in F1 before and was probably never envisaged by the regulations, but the main issue was it wouldn’t really be a fair fight between Hamilton on old hard tyres and Verstappen on much fresher softs.
Was it Masi’s fault that Red Bull had opted to pit Max while Mercedes left Lewis out? No, but the perception will forever be that, in a bid to make it a fair head-to-head fight, his unprecedented call actually favoured Verstappen.
Of course, we all know the outcome and this season, the No.1 will be displayed proudly on a Red Bull for the first time since 2014.
But the arguments, debate, fallout, hysteria, however you want to describe it, refuse to calm down.
#F1xed, #WeStandWithLewis and #MasiOut continue to feature on social media, while any post on either Hamilton or Verstappen is filled with abusive comments.
F1 pundits also continue to feed the fire with statements, and yes, even articles like this don’t help to restore any order.
But it is time for fans to realise the result of last season isn’t changing and, like it or not, Max Verstappen is the reigning world champion.
Even Mercedes accepted this fact in the days after Abu Dhabi and have insisted their issue isn’t with Max himself but the FIA.
So persistently tweeting or commenting that Verstappen is a fake champion at this point merely comes across as petty.
Instead, the only genuine reason why a pressure campaign from Team LH could continue is to ensure the FIA takes action, even if it primarily demanding the dismissal of Masi.
But though nothing concrete has been confirmed yet, fans should rest assured new president Mohammed ben Sulayem and Peter Bayer, Secretary-General for Motorsport, will deliver meaningful change because they have no other choice.
Replacing Charlie Whiting, who tragically passed away before the 2019 Australian GP, was never going to be easy, and sooner or later the entire operation needed to be modernised.
Abu Dhabi has only acted to expedite that, with a new race management structure reportedly being devised, ensuring a repeat of the season finale cannot happen, while the future of Masi is also being decided, although whether the Australian even wants to stay in his role is another question.
“What has become unbearable are the reactions on social media, which stop at nothing, as you saw with the death threats against Williams driver Latifi,” Bayer was quoted as telling Motorsport-Total.com.
“Michael doesn’t have an account, but the hostility in other channels really hit him.
“In our conversations, I assured him of the support of the association and let him know: We want to continue working with you, but I also need your understanding that we do that subject to investigate.”
Mercedes has also vowed to hold the FIA accountable for its investigation and actions, and even Red Bull are keen to see changes.
“It’s really important the FIA do their investigation, work with the teams on that investigation and we all follow whatever the outcome of that investigation is,” sporting director Jonathon Wheatley said on The Jack Threlfall Show.
“If we look broad brush at race direction and the very difficult role the race director and the stewards have – and it is difficult – and we talk about the consistency of stewards’ decisions, consistency across the board…of course, we would all love it to be very clear.”
That approach also applies to wheel-to-wheel action on track, where Red Bull felt frustrated at decisions made during last season.
“We’ve had this great over-arching philosophy of ‘let them race’. But then you have the black and white of the regulations, which is often very prescribed in terms of what penalty, or there is no wriggle room in it at all,” added Wheatley.
“I think these are the areas of the sport that need to come from the very top. The World Motor Sport Council need to say ‘here are the principles by which we are going racing’ and then it’s up to the FIA and the teams to work together to ensure a consistent set of sporting regulations.”
There is another person Lewis Hamilton fans need to consider in all of this, Lewis Hamilton.
He has been largely silent since Abu Dhabi and has only been seen on a few occasions, most recently in the US.
The claim is that his participation in the 2022 F1 season is uncertain until the FIA’s decisions are known, but now, just days away from the new Mercedes W13 hitting the track at Silverstone and in Barcelona, there’s no way he is retiring.
It would be an act of betrayal towards his own team, who would face a near-impossible task of replacing him and also be severely compromised in their preparations for the new season.
However, if Lewis himself is to fully move on from last year’s devastating loss, he needs the fanbase he so often turns to fully behind him focused on the new season.
This point was also made by David Coulthard, who told The Telegraph: “I think he will be bored with everyone saying to him, ‘You were robbed, Lewis!’ or ‘You’re the people’s champion, Lewis!’, he’ll be avoiding even having those conversations.
“I can’t compare myself to Lewis in terms of success or speed but one thing I think I can relate to is that emotional detachment, once the moment’s gone.
“The euphoria of success wears off quite quickly, and the disappointment of defeat wears off quite quickly as well.”
More often than not the greatest champions are often judged not just by their achievements but by how they bounce back from defeat or setback.
And as Hamilton prepares for his second attempt at winning an eighth F1 title, he has a great chance to add another incredible moment to his career full of incredible moments.
This year he also does it going up against more young talent in new teammate George Russell, as well as Verstappen and potentially the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and others.
But if the obsession with Abu Dhabi continues among Lewis’ fans, it’s possible those most eager to see him back on top in F1 could be the main reason he doesn’t.
