Wolff claims Hamilton 'SHOULD HAVE' record eighth F1 trophy

Toto Wolff has once again hit out at the baffling decision-making which robbed Lewis Hamilton of a record eighth Formula 1 world title.

The last race of the 2021 season saw the championship snatched away from the then-Mercedes driver in heartbreaking, and incredibly controversial, fashion.

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Hamilton led the majority of the race until a crash from Nicholas Latifi brought out a safety car, where the champion stayed out on worn tyres whilst his rival Verstappen pitted for a new set.

Despite the fact not all lapped cars had un-lapped themselves, Masi allowed one more lap of racing, during which Verstappen overtook Hamilton before the finish line to claim his first world title.

Wolff slams Abu Dhabi 2021 decision

The fallout from Abu Dhabi is still felt today, especially by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who has once again hit out at the decision made that evening.

Whilst the team boss did not name Masi specifically, he slammed the ‘referee’ for not following the rule book, and claimed that both Hamilton and Verstappen were both deserving champions.

“Five laps from the end we are world champions. There is no scenario otherwise. Then, someone decides the way the world championship should end with the last lap,” Wolff said on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.

“Unlapping the cars in the middle is unheard of. Both drivers were deserving champions because it was up and down during the season. And both should have been world champions.

“We had the better car and driver in Lewis at the end of the year, and Max was better in the first. They should have both had the trophy. But on that day in that race it fell the other way.

“It was so clear that the referee decided to do something that was not in the rule book. But it was in the madness of it.”

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