[imagesource: Joe Portlock /F1 via Getty Images]

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the 2021 F1 world championship in the most dramatic of circumstances, passing Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton had a comfortable lead with five laps to go and was cruising to victory when Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed.

The safety car came out and Verstappen popped in for a tyre change. Out of nowhere, the race turned into a single-lap shootout and the reigning world champion couldn’t hold off Verstappen.

The Dutchman partied like a rock star and Hamilton pondered whether or not he should retire, taking a prolonged leave of absence from social media before returning four days ago.

Controversy surrounding the final lap of the season’s final race again hit fifth gear this week when team radio messages between Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and Australian race director Michael Masi were widely shared.

The basics from Nine’s Wide World of Sports:

The audio, which was first released in December, has gone viral in the last 24 hours, with much attention on a message from Wheatley, who is heard advising Masi on how he should restart the race after the safety car was deployed.

“Those lapped cars, you don’t need to let them go right the way around and catch up with the back of the pack,” Wheatley told Masi.

“You only need to let them go, and then we’ve got a motor race on our hands.”

Masi replied: “Understood”.

Here’s the clip that’s attracted the most attention:

This is shocking. New emerging footage of @F1 Abu Dhabi GP containing previously unheard radio. Masi essentially executed the instructions of Jonathan Wheatley (Red Bull) without any second thought over its legality or fairness. This should be sickening listening to any fan. pic.twitter.com/XkOWmjGhH0

— Jordan ¹⁰³ (@F1_Jordan) February 8, 2022

Masi diverted from the procedure set out in Article 48.12 of the Sporting Regulations, which states that “any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car”.

In retaliation, Verstappen fan accounts have shared this footage from the race:

Toto Wolff literally begging Michael Masi for no safety car has to be one of the most embarrassing things I’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/lWKDTsOdKT

— JM (@f1jm_) February 7, 2022

British former F1 driver and current Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle called the Wheatley and Masi video “really uncomfortable”. He also labelled the final race situation “hugely unacceptable”:

“And you don’t even have to be a Lewis Hamilton fan to think that forever he should be an eight-time world champion, because, for me, the really crucial regulation that wasn’t carried out was that the safety car should have come in at the end of the following lap…

“Hugely unacceptable. I met so many fans that were new to Formula 1 last year particularly, and fans in general, that were hugely upset by what happened.

“We cannot – and we know it’s going to change – have teams getting at the referee while he’s trying to make critical decisions with cars on the track and marshals and breakdown vehicles.”

Verstappen fans would likely argue that Brundle is going to bat for his fellow Brit.

Meanwhile, the Dutchman is all systems go for the new season:

Arriving in style for the #RB18 car launch @Max33Verstappen 🤩 pic.twitter.com/yBzl7LpQaq

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 9, 2022

Hamilton has yet to confirm that he will take part in the 2022 season but you get the feeling he’s keen to get that eighth world title under his belt, which would take him one clear of Michael Schumacher.

[sources:wwos&skysports]