Dressed in black, Toto Wolff was jokingly referred to as Darth Wolff on social media. The interview that the team boss gave after all the commotion in Abu Dhabi was to make clear to everyone why Mercedes had withdrawn their protest.

Hamilton sets the right example

After eight years of dominance, it took a few days for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing to be congratulated. Lewis Hamilton showed in Abu Dhabi how to behave as a defeated sportsman. He lost the world title through no fault of his own on the very last lap, and an eighth world title would have broken all records set by Michael Schumacher. He knows he doesn't have long left in the sport and doesn't know if he'll get another chance like this in the coming years. 

On the other hand, Wolff showed how not to behave when you've just lost. Now he's completely true in saying that Christian [Horner] and he took it too far over the radio towards Michael Masi, but wasn't he the one who was screaming over the radio, screeching and pointing in camera attacking anyone who would work against him and his team? Horner has indeed made himself heard too, but always calmly and quietly.

Darth Wolff

Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team YouTube

The feigned haughtiness in the interview is therefore remarkable. Mercedes put the entire blame for the loss of the world title on the FIA and wanted to do everything they could to reverse it. They would have enough evidence, but decided not to protest. Why, if you were sure you were right?

They now seem to be working on another campaign: changing Formula 1 in the future. It all sounds nice, but points they cite, they themselves violated this year. For example, they want rules to be made clear prior to the season and then fixed. Just like the tests for the rear wings and the way pit stops are done, which were changed at their request during 2021.

It's a bit of pot calling the kettle black. Wolff already reacted childishly after the race and doesn't seem to have lost that attitude yet. In the interview he takes the FIA to task, but let's be honest: what would he have done in that situation? He states that the lapped cars should have been left in front and then raced a lap later. If the stewards had done this properly Verstappen would have won as well.

Focus on 2022

And this is where I think the problem lies for Mercedes. They might be right that the rules weren't followed to the letter, but in hindsight all lapped cars should have been released a lap earlier, and then they could have raced in the last lap. Then we would have had exactly the same situation, with exactly the same outcome.

Probably Mercedes would have protested then, because that is the attitude of Darth Wolff when he loses. He did it during the first half of 2021 by letting the FIA introduce new tests and new pitstop material, and he'll do it again at the end of the season. That's fine and part of the game, but don't turn it into a drama act.

Wolff has been campaigning against Red Bull Racing all year, and oddly enough, the same thing happened to Ferrari in 2017 and 2018. Somehow Wolff manages to get all eyes on the competition. Where Ferrari lost that battle, Red Bull stayed cool and they saw Mercedes fumble themselves with a flexible rear wing.

Wolff always says he wants competition at the top of F1, but every time there is a competitor he puts them in a bad light. So he doesn't like it that much. Whether he misses Niki Lauda as a calm factor next to him we will unfortunately never know, but someone should put him in his place.

The season is now over. Max is the rightful world champion and Mercedes is the rightful constructors champion. Let it go, work on 2022 and make sure you're there again then. In the meantime, make sure you patch up Hamilton. You'll gain much more if he's driven at the start of 2022, than if you remain stuck in your Calimero role now.