Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has put the rest of Formula One on notice by claiming the sport’s bosses ‘could not have done more to motivate us’ for 2022 following Max Verstappen‘s controversial world title last season.
Verstappen, likened to a ‘bully’ by title rival Lewis Hamilton in the latest Netflix series of ‘Drive to Survive’, overtook the Brit on the final lap of the year in Abu Dhabi after now-disposed race director Michael Masi allowed the lapped cars between them to be cleared under a safety car.
Wolff, who spoke on behalf of his driver in the closing moments of the last episode, remains insistent that the outcome was fabricated and it has left ‘scars’ on himself and seven-time champion Hamilton.
‘My very reaction in that moment [when Verstappen crossed the line] was: “what has just happened?”,’ he said.
‘Max was worthy of winning the championship but not in this fashion. If you are doing a good enough job you will win the race and here that was not how it went.
‘The decision is wrong and it is clear this is going to leave scars on myself, Lewis and the team.’
Toto Wolff has insisted last season’s hugely controversial finale has hugely provoked Mercedes
The team principal said the title race’s climax ‘could not have done more’ to motivate them
Cuts to the Red Bull pitwall showed Wolff’s rival, Red Bull boss Christian Horner, in tears as he soaked up a first world championship for the team in seven years.
But for Wolff, there is no more flammable fuel for the upcoming season than a driver who feels the sport ‘manipulated’ a result against him.
‘Lewis had done everything that was necessary to win the championship and it was taken away from him,’ Wolff added.
‘There is nothing better that they could have done to motivate us.’
The final episode quickly becomes the Wolff and Horner show, with both principals FaceTiming their children to relax themselves before the race.
Red Bull star Max Verstappen snatched the championship in highly contentious circumstances
The Dutchman overtook Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi
Horner asks one of his daughters what she wants for Christmas while Wolff sends kisses to his young son back at home.
Verstappen is seen getting a tidbit of advice from Horner in the moments before the race.
‘Just do what you’ve done at every f***ing race for us,’ Horner tells the Dutchman.
The tension continues to build with orchestral music the backdrop for fast cuts from the track to the pitwall and garages of the two title rivals.
‘If I look back over the season, nothing has gone our way,’ Horner is seen saying. ‘I’m a believer that fate always balances out in the end.’
Austrian Wolff admitted ‘everyone has a target on their backs’ ahead of the new campaign
That ‘fate’ came in the closing moments after a safety car had been deployed following a crash by Williams F1 driver Nicholas Latifi.
Verstappen elected to pit for fresh tyres and when he emerged on track there were five lapped cars between he and Hamilton, the race leader.
Masi initially decided that lapped cars would not be eligible to unlap themselves under a safety car, sparking a furious reaction among Horner and his staff.
‘They may as well give this f***ing championship to Hamilton,’ he cursed, having himself made his case over the radio for Masi to deliver ‘one racing lap’ to decide the title.
Then Masi made the decision to allow solely the five cars separating the title rivals to pass the safety car, a decision that was condemned on the track and at Mercedes.
‘Man, what the f**k?’ Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll, who was further back in the field and unable to Dunlap himself, said over his radio.
The music increases towards its crescendo and with Hamilton and Verstappen now side by side – ‘f**k, is he right behind me? With new tyres? raged Hamilton – Wolff took his headset off and was barely able to watch.
‘This is getting manipulated, man,’ Hamilton added.
Asked if the manner of the finish at the Yas Marina Circuit – which saw Masi ruthlessly sacked following an FIA investigation into his decision making – has put a target on Red Bull’s back, a deadpan Wolff concluded the series with an ominous warning to the rest of the grid.
‘Everyone has a target on their backs next year.’
