Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of the Dorna organisation that runs MotoGP, is not impressed at how the end to last season’s Formula 1 title fight played out.
Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen entered the final round of 2021 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix level on points following an exhilarating season of racing, and the Briton was leading comfortably heading into the closing stages.
However, a late Safety Car caused by a crash for Williams’ Nicholas Latifi allowed for a Verstappen pit stop, leaving five lapped cars between the Dutchman and his rival.
Race director Michael Masi had initially ruled that no lapped cars would be allowed through due to time constraints threatening to see the race end behind the Safety Car, but changed his mind just minutes later by only giving the aforementioned five their lap back.
Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok has recently suggested that the late caution was extended due to a brake fire on the Williams car, thus forcing the Australian’s hand to provide fans with a grandstand one lap dash.
Verstappen would then clinch his maiden world title on the very last lap of the grand prix.
Asked if he would wish to see the same drama in MotoGP, Ezpeleta made his position very clear.
“Me, no,” he told Spanish daily Marca.
“I would not like to have a finish in MotoGP like the one in F1. I wish for two drivers fighting for the title in the last race, but the way the whole thing played out…
“I’m not for or against anything. It was a fantastic championship, fought throughout the year but in the end, there were controversies that were not good.”
He does not see any benefit of such a controversial ending and the seven-time champion’s subsequent silence.
“I like to have a championship, if possible, disputed until the very end. But I don’t like that after the end they created doubt, that the runner-up [Hamilton] doesn’t talk anymore. I certainly don’t dream about that.”
The Spaniard acknowledges that controversial championship moments reel in viewers, but he is not a fan of polemic incidents such as the MotoGP Sepang Grand Prix in 2015, when Valentino Rossi appeared to kick Marc Marquez off his bike.
“Although everyone was very happy from the point of view of the media impact with the 2015 mess between Rossi and Marquez, I don’t dream about those things,” he explained.
Hamilton’s future remains unconfirmed following his “we’ll see about next year” comment in the immediate aftermath of the race in Abu Dhabi, but if he is to return he will be partnered at Mercedes by George Russell.
On Saturday, Hamilton finally broke his social media silence, with him taking to Instagram and Twitter to post a picture of him at the Grand Canyon, cryptically captioned: “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!”