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Apparently (and people can search for a reference) the F1 teams agreed at the start of the season that it was desirable to finish races under green flag (racing) conditions. This presumably is to avoid the appalling look of a precession behind the safety car all the way to the chequered flag. Mercedes didn't factor that in to their team's strategy and left Hamilton out there to maintain track position some 5 laps before the end of the race, whilst RedBull pitted Verstappen for tyres as the Latifi crash was cleaned up. In fact as I recall the radio discussions during those closing stages, Hamilton I seem to recall asked his team if he could/should pit for tyres and they advised against it, stating that he should maintain track position. I'll see if I can find that conversation/video snippet, if indeed my memory serves me correctly (???).
I don't feel anyone was robbed or there was some sort of dark conspiracy, it's just the way it is. The race is about many things, but 3 in particular: The Machine, The Driver and The Strategy. One team had all 3.
Having said that I feel that in hindsight it may have been preferable to have red flagged the race at lap 53 and then restarted for a final 4-5 laps.
Best
JA
Last edited by JA; 20-12-2021 at 04:55 PM.
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