Red Bull team would also feel 'robbed' according Albers
Jan.21 - Red Bull would have behaved "exactly the same" as Mercedes had the situation been reversed at the explosively contentious 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis Hamilton and the German team were roundly criticised as 'bad losers' for so openly questioning and condemning race director Michael Masi's actions surrounding the late-race safety car.
But former F1 driver Christijan Albers, who like new world champion Max Verstappen is Dutch, told De Telegraaf newspaper: "I understand why Hamilton and Mercedes feel robbed."
Seven time world champion Hamilton, 37, is currently maintaining full radio silence amid rumours he might take the moment to quit Formula 1.
Mercedes, meanwhile, has denied rumours it is demanding the sacking of race director Masi.
"Michael Masi seemed a bit unsure at a few races last year," Albers said. "He made some ambiguous decisions.
"But he certainly played a decisive role in the final leg of the season, which left many in bewilderment. Everyone wanted the season finale to be fair.
"Let's be honest - if it was the other way around, Red Bull would have taken exactly the same position. After all, didn't Christian Horner criticise Masi after Saudi Arabia?" he added.
Albers, who raced for Minardi and Spyker, suspects that Masi bent the safety car rules in Abu Dhabi "for the sake of a spectacular finale".
"But you can't then say that it was a consistent decision," he insisted.
"The FIA now has to investigate not only Abu Dhabi, but all of the inconsistent decisions taken by Masi during the season."
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We keep talking about this, and read assumption after assumption.
The root cause for Lewis’s defeat was the tire management.
Bad decisions throughout the race while Lewis was begging for tires. If the Brit had been listened to, he would have been able to defend his first place.
Failure by Merc, not Masi.
After all, everyone wants to see racing, and not a procession following a safety car.
Quite right as LL always says,we win together, and we lose together
If Max is happy with his win, fine but should he feel that the race was given to him, which is how I feel, then there has to be some element of unfairness nagging at him for the rest of the year. There was no real winner when the win was handed to Max by Masi's back and forth antics. No real sportsmanship shown by the Red Bull team so far.
Max raced his heart out all season, yes I think he deserved the win. Lewis can try again next season if he can pull himself together.
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