In the final moments of the intensely fought, action packed and incident marred 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the fight became a nail biting one between Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen towards the end
with the then world title hanging on the knife’s edge.
Christian Horner has only recently opened up on the fact that he felt great pressure and alluded to the fact that the dying moments of the race brought unforgettable tension as the initial instructions arrived for the lapped cars would not be able to unlap themselves with there being no fewer than five back markers separating Hamilton and Verstappen.
That is when he realised that in that sort of situation, Verstappen would have to pass each of the 5 cars to get to Hamilton, who at that point, was leading the race.
He explained how and why he had to put pressure on the then Formula 1 Race Director, Michael Masi, with whom he spoke
about why the five back markers- the lapped cars- should unlap themselves.
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Horner explained in his memoir “Drive” the most important conversation, especially during the most critical juncture of the 2021 world drivers’ championship that he had had with Masi.
“That meant that Max would have to pass all five cars before getting to Lewis, which was impossible in one racing lap. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and by extension an entire season, was being concluded in the most unsatisfying manner. I couldn’t understand the decision.”
But that’s not all; the Englishman would further add on the sheer excitement that the wheel-to-wheel Hamilton versus Verstappen fight brought to the fore, especially for racing fans around the world as he’d add :
The watching world wanted to see Max and Lewis go head to head in a title decider, not crawl to an underwhelming finish. Anything else was a disappointment.”
“I decided to apply some more pressure on race control. ‘Come on, Michael, we need to get this race going; why aren’t we getting these lapped cars out the way?’ I said. ‘It’ll be such a shame to end everything under a safety. The lapped cars should unlap. Let’s race.’”
