Formula 1 season ending ‘rigged by stewards’ and ‘left sour taste’, Labour peer claims

Labour peer Lord Peter Hain believes the ending of the 2021 Formula 1 season was “rigged by the stewards”.

Max Verstappen took the world title in the final race of the season after overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the last lap. The Dutchman was only able to do so as race director Michael Masi allowed some cars to unlap themselves and others not after a safety car was deployed.

Lord Hain, who is vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on F1, said the thrilling conclusion is bad for the sport.

He told The Express: “That’s not good for the sport. It may be exciting and it may be dramatic, it may gain the audiences that F1 craves, but you have to think of the credibility and the integrity of the sport in the longer term.

“As a lifelong F1 fan, I thought it was a perverted outcome. The finish was effectively rigged by the stewards in order to produce a dramatic finale for the theatre rather than a racing outcome.

“I think it has left a sour taste unless you are a die-hard Verstappen fan, but even many of them have admitted that it has left an unpleasant taste in their mouth.”

And though discussions around the ending of the season are still rumbling on, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says people will forget about the circumstances.

“People in this business have such very short memories,” said Horner, per GP Fans. “We’ve even forgotten what happened [earlier in the year]. It was such a long racing season.

“Max is absolutely a deserving world champion. When you look at the championship as a whole, of course the events in Abu Dhabi drew an awful lot of comment, but that happens in sport.

“We had a lot of bad luck last year, we got fortunate with a safety car, we made the right strategic calls, great strategy, great teamwork and great execution by Max, and we won the race.”