Toto Wolff has likened Max Verstappen’s win at the Abu Dhabi GP 2021 to Diego Maradona’s infamous Hand of God
As the 2021 season of Formula One wrapped up and a new season was crowned, ardent viewers of F1 were left with a bitter taste in their mouth. It was down to the manner in which the season final Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had come to an end, a race which saw controversy erupt after the FIA race director, Michael Masi decided he wanted to dictate proceedings on the night.
Allowing six lapped cars to overtake as the safety car was deployed in the 53rd lap, the Australian backtracked on his initial decision to clampdown on overtaking. Chaos ensured with Max Verstappen eventually going onto overtake Lewis Hamilton to race his way to his first ever drivers’ championship title.
Toto Wolff Compares Max Verstappen’s Win To Diego Maradona’s Hand Of God
While Mercedes went onto file a protest, one which was eventually thrown out by the FIA stewards, the side decided against filing an appeal in the FIA International Court of Appeal. Despite filing an intention to appeal, Toto Wolff decided it wasn’t prudent to take things forward with him not detailing why he had made the decision.
The German also spoke about Max Verstappen’s win and the controversy surrounding it with him likening it to Diego Maradona’s hand of god incident.
“It is definitely on a par with the ‘Hand of God’ by Diego Maradona, or the Wembley goal from 1966.
“An inconsistent decision by the race director took the title away from Lewis,” Wolff said as he spoke about the Red Bull driver’s win.
“The FIA would have been both defendant and judge.
“That unleashes a sense of powerlessness, just like on Sunday in the last round.
“I haven’t felt like that since I was a kid,” the Mercedes bigwig continued as he talked about his team’s decision to not file an appeal.