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The safety car stage at the end of the Italian Grand Prix brought back memories of last year’s season-defining Lewis Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton saw him lose his eighth world title chance on the final lap of last year’s final race when race director Michael Massey ignored parts of the F1 rulebook to ensure the race didn’t end behind the safety car .
The controversial handling of the situation, which resulted in Max Verstappen passing Hamilton on the final lap for his first world title, remains a bone of contention among many fans and led to Massey being replaced at the start of the season.
With five laps remaining in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, the safety car was in and Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren team pulled to the side of the track, but there was not enough time to restart the race this time, so in safety Finished behind the car. Had the same process been followed in Abu Dhabi last year, Hamilton would have been an eight-time world champion.
“It always brings back memories,” Hamilton, who finished fifth at Monza, told Sky Sports after the Italian Grand Prix. “That’s the way it should be, right? So only once, in the history of the sport, they didn’t play by the rules.”
The handling of the safety car at Monza has drawn criticism from Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, who claims to have raced Safe to reboot Whether the game control is better organized.
However, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said he agreed with the way the Italian race ended.
“It’s pretty clear,” Wolfe said. “There are rules, they’re written down, and from my perspective, those rules are being followed today whether I’ve been traumatized by Abu Dhabi or not.
“There’s a car on the track, there’s a referee, there’s a crane. That’s why they don’t let anyone overtake. Then, once all the cars are crashed, there’s not enough time to start the race again.
“So if a guy is not happy with the rules and you want a big show, two laps of racing and chaos, I think I’m totally fine with that. But we need to change the rules.
“So I don’t think we should complain about anything that happens because that’s the rule.”
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