Windsor: "The rules suggested that it was not worth doing it"

Lewis Hamilton was long on track to win his eighth world title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix until Nicholas Latifi turned the race on its head. It caused Max Verstappen to overtake him on the final lap to win the World Championship. In the closing stages, Mercedes made a crucial mistake in the process.

After Latifi's crash, the drivers had to continue behind a safety car. Red Bull Racing decided to anticipate immediately and brought Verstappen in for soft tyres. It turned out to be the crucial decision of the Austrian racing team, as it allowed Verstappen to pass Hamilton easily.

Mercedes' decision is understandable

Critics argued that Mercedes should have made the same decision, copying Red Bull's strategy. In this way, Mercedes ostensibly had the best chance of still clinching the world title, but the team decided otherwise. Peter Windsor can well understand the decision, as he explained on his YouTube channel.

"The reason they didn't do that is because the rules suggested that it was not worth doing it," he explained. "There was no way in the world a safety car was going to clear that race and allow a one-lap race to be driven. So what was the point? They were going to finish it under the safety car conditions."