After the FIA’s report into the controversial closing stages of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was released on 19 March, it is safe to say that fans of Sir Lewis Hamilton are still thoroughly dissatisfied.
The FIA pointed to a “misunderstanding” of Safety Car protocol by now former race director Michael Masi as to the reason that only five lapped runners were allowed to pass the Safety Car ahead of the final lap of the race in December, leading Max Verstappen to take his maiden world championship.
They have also been quoted as saying that “human error” was the root cause of the controversy, but insisted that the 44-year-old acted in “good faith.”
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The previous Safety Car protocol stated that “any” lapped runners were to be allowed to pass the Safety Car at the race director’s discretion, but that has now been amended to “all” after the “different interpretations” of the regulations caused “confusion” in race control.
Subsequently, the latest wave of amusing petulance on social media has taken place, and after the nickname “Masi1” was given to him, Verstappen is now being labelled the “human error champion.”
After Hamilton himself revealed that he was not anticipating an “apology” for what happened last year, one fan praised his graciousness in the face of what was a cruel defeat to the Dutchman in 2021.
“The man’s a saint! Compare @LewisHamilton behaviour & sportsmanship having lost a title because of a dodgy RD & stewards & Max’s behaviour this weekend…” they wrote.
Red Bull tweeted a short video of last year’s title protagonists fist bumping as they lined up for the pre-season photo ahead of the opening race of the season in Bahrain, with the caption “from one champion to another.”
This itself extracted the wrath of the Hamilton “crusaders,” as Joe Saward previously described them, with a fan correcting the caption to: “From a true champion to the #HumanErrorChampion.”
Following Ferrari’s exceptional one-two finish in Sakhir last weekend, Formula 1’s official Twitter page has changed the header from a picture of Verstappen celebrating his maiden championship last season to an image of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz stood on the podium.
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This was to the delight of another Hamilton supporter.
“Ah, what a delight to go onto the @F1 page to find that they’ve updated their header. No more #HumanErrorChampion celebrating his tainted, tarnished and illegitimate championship*!” they exclaimed.
In perhaps the most hilarious reaction of them all, a user responded to Uber Facts’ tweet that there is a shortage of clowns in Northern Ireland.
“Clearly not enough Verstappen fans in Northern Ireland…” was their reply.
The 2022 campaign may be back underway with a stupendous race in Bahrain, but a lot of fans evidently still have no intention of moving on from last year.