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Jacques Villeneuve has never been someone to water down his opinions when it comes to Formula 1, and he might have just tackled the sport’s most controversial recent incident.
The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is remembered by Max Verstappen fans as the most dramatic way to win a first Formula 1 title in history, and by Lewis Hamilton fans as a stain on the sport’s integrity.
The pair went into the race level on points, and after a controversial ending of the safety car one lap before the end, Verstappen overtook Hamilton to claim victory.
How did you react to Abu Dhabi 2021?
Sebastian Vettel recently praised Hamilton’s composure after the race, where he was gracious in defeat under the most testing circumstances.
Race director Michael Masi departed after the event, while Stefano Domenicali’s private reaction to Abu Dhabi 2021 speaks volumes.
Jacques Villeneuve has now given his take on the race and reminded fans of a moment at the beginning of the Grand Prix that ‘everyone forgets’, which potentially further justifies Verstappen’s first championship win.
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Jacques Villeneuve says ‘everyone forgets’ Lewis Hamilton’s lap one corner cut during Abu Dhabi 2021
Jake Humphrey was arguing on the High Performance Podcast that everyone agrees Hamilton should have won the 2021 championship in Abu Dhabi.
In response, Villeneuve disagrees and said: “Actually, what you forget is that it’s the work of a whole season, it’s not just that one race. He should have won it before that race; that was the issue.
“Max should never have been able to fight so hard at the end. But what everyone forgets is on lap one, Lewis cuts the chicane, steps on it, doesn’t even try to slow down and does not even get a penalty.
“That gives him the lead of the race. Without that, no lead of the race. With a penalty, then he’s just five seconds behind Max anyway.
“So we don’t even get to that point. So that’s where the issue started. You can’t just look at that moment where everything happened in chaos and happened quickly, where the team could have pitted Lewis, and they chose not to.
Can you think of a more controversial moment in F1 history than Abu Dhabi 2021?
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“So that’s their decision. It was a gamble. They chose not to. Very simple. And then when you look at the restart, Lewis wasn’t even fighting.
“It’s as if he had decided, oh, I’m done. I’m beaten. And he wasn’t even fighting.
“On that first lap, that should have been a big penalty. Now they give 10 seconds for that. He didn’t even try.
“Just didn’t make the corner, floored it, and got out of the corner five seconds ahead, which gave him the lead, which then changed the whole rest of the race. So why can’t people look at that as well? That’s part of the whole race.”
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Max Verstappen failed to repeat Abu Dhabi heroics to win the 2025 championship
Since that moment, Hamilton hasn’t come close to winning another championship, whereas it was only the catalyst for Verstappen and Red Bull to go on and dominate Formula 1.
His 2023 season will likely go down as the most impressive in the sport’s history, and he nearly achieved a remarkable fifth consecutive title win this year.
After being 104 points behind Oscar Piastri at one point, Verstappen took the title showdown back to Abu Dhabi and once again took the chequered flag.
Red Bull’s tactics during the race have been questioned, but the Dutchman couldn’t have done any more to beat Lando Norris.
The debate surrounding Abu Dhabi 2021 will rage on forever, but Villeneuve makes an interesting point about Hamilton’s early misdemeanour, which avoided punishment.
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