‘THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!’
George Russell has criticised the decision to allow lapped cars to overtake the safety car, which subsequently allowed Max Verstappen to overtake Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen won his first ever F1 World Drivers’ Championship after overtaking Hamilton on the final lap of the race, much to the frustration of the Brit and Mercedes.
Hamilton was leading the race when Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barriers, which saw a yellow flag and the Safety Car come out – with Verstappen opting to immediately pit for some fresh tyres.
Initially, race controls reported that lapped cars would not be allowed to overtake, however, they then changed their decision and told the three cars to overtake the safety car.
This saw Hamilton and Max Verstappen side by side with just one lap remaining.
After changing his tyres, and with Hamilton running on old ones, the Dutchman took the lead and went on to win the race and secure the Drivers’ Championship.
The decision to allow lapped cars to overtake was an extremely controversial one, and Russell – who has raced for Williams this season, but is making the move to Mercedes next season – has slammed the decision.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) December 12, 2021
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
“Max is an absolutely fantastic driver who has had an incredible season and I have nothing but huge respect for him, but what just happened is absolutely unacceptable. I cannot believe what we’ve just seen.”
Speaking on the incident, former Formula 1 driver’s champion Alain Prost told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s going to be commented in terms of rule about safety car. Very difficult for me to have clear judgement, I can understand they are not going to be happy about that.
“It was exceptional for the show. Always going to be controversial.
“I try to feel the happiness for Max and the sadness for Lewis.”
Despite losing the race and consequently the title, Hamilton was still gracious in defeat as he congratulated Verstappen in his post-race assessment
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