Abu Dhabi 2021 was almost one year ago as we approach the final two races of the 2022 season. So why are Ted Kravitz and Sky Sports still crying about it?
Red Bull and Max Verstappen have every right to be angry and have every right to boycott the channel until they decide they can control themselves from trying to redo something that is already set in stone. The fact is, Max Verstappen is the 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Champion, that we can get out of the way. Verstappen had in no way anything to do with the decisions the FIA and ultimately Michael Masi made and the so called “pundits” at Sky need to let this go.
What good does this do for the sport? The FIA has already admitted, long ago mind you, that mistakes were made procedurally in the finale last year, and because of those mistakes, Michael Masi was removed as race director and new procedures were put in place i.e. in Monza for example. But the notion that the championship was “tainted” or that Hamilton was “robbed” need to die. It does not help that Kravitz and Sky can’t let this go. If it was tainted, why did Max Verstappen lead all drivers with 10 wins to Hamilton’s 8? Why did Verstappen perform at or better than Hamilton’s level that season? By continuing to peddle this non-sense, Sky makes it seem like F1 is a sport where if you don’t like the results, don’t ever accept them and take away from the person who achieved it because something that they had nothing to do with happened.
There were plenty of mistakes in Abu Dhabi, with the hype and build up around that weekend, you can see that Masi wanted to create a spectacle and he certainly did. However if that race had just ended under safety car you run the risk of alienating all the new fans that that race certainly created, were the decisions correct, no, but at the end of the day, the results stood and the FIA even said so after its months long investigation into the decision making after Latifi crashed. It was a bad moment for sporting regulations but it created an instance that will live on in F1 history forever and created millions of new fans to follow the sport.
Since the FIA concluded its investigation on March 10, they noted that while mistakes were made procedurally, “the results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot be changed.” That’s it, there’s not taint on 2021 just as there’s no taint on 2022. Red Bull did go over the cost cap but the penalties were handed down and will be served by the team. But this notion that somehow Verstappen’s title last year is tainted is complete and utter nonsense, and the fact that Ted Kravitz especially keeps peddling this just shows that they, along with anyone else in that camp, need to get over it.