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Lewis Hamilton has had some incredible results during his Formula 1 career, leading to more than 100 victories and seven world championships.
However, the turning point towards the end of Lewis Hamilton’s time on the grid is undoubtedly the 2021 season.
Hamilton lost out to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi in one of the sport’s most controversial moments.
Can you think of a more controversial moment in F1 history than Abu Dhabi 2021?
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Sebastian Vettel recently praised Hamilton’s conduct at the end of that campaign, while Verstappen’s huge impact at Silverstone led Toto Wolff to admit he should have apologised to Jos Verstappen as he was so caught up in the moment.
There were plenty of twists and turns that year, and Karun Chandhok has now revealed one detail from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that could have changed the course of the championship.
It’s a detail about what the stewards told him at the end of that race that could have made all the difference as he was discussing Hamilton’s greatest victories.
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F1 stewards privately admitted Max Verstappen deserved a penalty at the 2021 Sao Paulo GP
Chandhok was speaking on Autosport’s Podcast on the most epic wins in F1 history and was discussing the 2021 race at Interlagos.
Discussing the controversial decision not to award Verstappen a penalty in that race, and Hamilton’s performance as a whole, he said: “I mean, I was confused about why Max hadn’t been penalised at turn four for forcing another driver off the track.
“I remember speaking to the stewards at one of the subsequent races, it would have been Saudi or Abu Dhabi, I guess, in that run.
“On reflection, I think even they realised that they needed to do something there because it was getting a little bit silly.
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“I think more broadly, it was a weekend where, to me, I look at it in go, that’s probably Lewis’s greatest dry weather performance as a weekend.
“We’ve seen great drives, Turkey in the wet or damp conditions. Here at Silverstone in 2008, I’d still put down as his greatest victory.
“In terms of dry weather performances, that’s got to be, I think, the standout for me.”
Chandhok went on to suggest it was even better than the 2018 Italian Grand Prix because of the context of the season and the pressure on Hamilton to perform to try and stop Verstappen winning the title.
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Max Verstappen was adamant he did nothing wrong at the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix
As Chandhok suggested, Hamilton’s weekend in Sao Paulo that year was extraordinary.
He made up 15 positions in the Sprint Race from the back of the grid, before starting P10 in Sunday’s race and going on to win it.
When he caught up to the back of Verstappen on lap 48, going into turn four, both drivers were forced to use the run-off, but Verstappen maintained the lead.
Hamilton eventually passed him 11 laps later, but Verstappen avoided a penalty. Had he been given even a five-second punishment by the stewards, Valtteri Bottas would have finished ahead of him, changing the dynamic of the drivers’ championship.
Speaking about the incident on Formula 1’s official website, Verstappen said: As a driver, I think we know exactly what we can or cannot do in a car, and we were fighting hard, braking late into the corner, the tyres were quite worn.
“If I would have turned more abrupt to the left, you’d just spin off the track.”
Hamilton will hope he still has the chance to add at least one more epic victory to his collection that might enter Chandhok’s thinking in the future.
However, he might not want to hear that the stewards believed they made a mistake in Sao Paulo all these years later.
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