Formula 1: 5 mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton the championship

Mercedes made four key mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton the Formula 1 world championship, and Max Verstappen made one that actually helped his cause.

The controversy surrounding last Sunday’s 2021 season-ending and Formula 1 world championship-deciding race at the 16-turn, 3.281-mile (5.280-kilometer) Yas Marina Circuit road course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates will certainly last through the offseason and beyond.

On the very first lap, Max Verstappen dove inside Lewis Hamilton entering turn six and forced his rival off the track, prompting a debate as to whether Hamilton should have had to give the place back.

Red Bull’s lobbying was fruitless, but race control’s response indicated that the policy for the day would be to actually let the championship be decided on the track. Hamilton was much faster all night, but a series of bad decisions on the pit wall ultimately overwhelmed his on-track advantage.

When race director Michael Masi made the call to clear only the lapped cars that were between the two title contenders before a final lap of racing, Mercedes had a scapegoat for their consistently awful approach to the entire race weekend.

In the end, team leadership at Mercedes had no one to blame but themselves.

And if it had not been for a potentially devastating on-track mistake during qualifying, Verstappen and Red Bull may not have even been in a strategic position to win the race — and his first world championship.

All of this makes Mercedes’ refusal to attend the season-ending FIA prize-giving gala seem like the petulant act of an organization unwilling to admit their own shortcomings, which comes as no surprise to anyone who follows the sport.

There were several key moments in which Toto Wolff and Peter Bonnington failed their driver and their team with conservative decisions. That manner of leadership won them championships when their cars and drivers were head and shoulders ahead of the field, but those days are apparently gone.

Where Mercedes hesitated, Red Bull pounced — repeatedly. The gap in decision making was clearly noticeable throughout the weekend.

Here are five mistakes that ultimately cost Mercedes and Hamilton.