While F1 and Lewis Hamilton have clearly come out of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Championship tiebreaker, Toto Wolf doesn't seem to have been.
I've been thinking about writing this since the end of the 2023 F1 Season Final in Abu Dhabi last Sunday....
It was during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Safety Car controversy that Verstappen took away the season's Drivers' Crown from Hamilton, which was considered human error, causing the wrong race director Michael Massie to pay a heavy price for his work, not to mention the abuse he suffered afterwards from the Keyboard Warrior Corps.
And that's not forgetting the hatred of Hamilton and Verstappen on social platforms, with some disparaging the latter's first F1 title and others defending him and attacking the former, both of which were wrong, as we insist that Verstappen is a deserving champion and that if things go well, Hamilton will be a deserved eight-time champion.
This is a dark time for us in F1 and we hope to be left behind as a new era for the sport begins in 2022 and new regulations are in place.
It seems that as much as we want to look to the future, Wolf still wants to look back and take every possible opportunity to bring up the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes head to Abu Dhabi four points ahead of Ferrari in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Championship, all vying for runner-up spot, and even before any action at Yas Marina, Wolf was asked about the battle with Ferrari.
"We go there with almost equal points and we have a proper race director, so it should be fine," Wolf said. ”
Is there any need to tease Marcy?The guy paid for his mistakes, was forgotten, and made a living elsewhere.
The race for runner-up against Ferrari proved to be a tight one, with Leclerc trying some clever tactics to keep Russell out of the podium, and the Monegasque man even tried to help Pérez get ahead of Russell when he was penalized.
Eventually, Mercedes received the honor of being the "first loser", and Wolf reflected on the battle with Ferrari.
It's a great finale to the P2 battle," he told Sky Sports F1. "Russell's driving was outstanding. I think Leclerc ended up being very sportsmanlike and didn't try to slow down. Two great teams, two great friends, they fought to the end. ”
But then, he couldn't help himself and brought up Abu Dhabi 2021 again, saying: "I'm not under pressure. I had a stressful time in my F1 life, and that was a few years ago. ”
Again, is this really necessary, the boss from the eight-time F1 Constructors' Champion?
But did you know that Wolf should emphasise, about the 2024 F1 season, because if the W15 that Hamilton and Russell are eagerly awaiting becomes another mysterious racing brick, then next year he will have nowhere to hide, as the W14 and W13 have been under Toto's watch.
Eventually, after two dismal years, the blame fell on the Mercedes owner.
Instead of dwelling on the past, Wolf should focus on and look ahead to 2024 and make sure he leads his stumbling team out of the predicament it has been in since the start of 2022, and that 451 points behind Red Bull is humiliating until it is said that Mercedes' third (2022) and second (2023) finishes in the Constructors' Championship are far from a disaster.
Not to mention that Mercedes didn't know what to expect from their pathetic W14 when they went to every race in 2023. They're just lost.
Mike Elliott fell to his sword, the brainchild of the "zero side box" concept, leaving Mercedes after his initial reassignment to the position of Chief Technology Officer, a hands-off position far removed from the day-to-day operations of the technology department that James Ellison was once again responsible for.
But in the end, the blame rests with Wolff. He is the owner and he has the final signature on the team's decisions and plans.
Perhaps he should focus on giving Hamilton a decent car instead of taking every possible opportunity to amateurishly bring up Abu Dhabi 2021, which he could use to fight for his eighth F1 Drivers' Championship he missed out on after that fateful night in Abu Dhabi 2021.