Toto Wolff Recalls the Night of Abu Dhabi: “A Lunatic Changed Everything”
During an event promoting Susie Wolff’s new book, Driven, the F1 Academy managing director and her husband, Toto Wolff, revisited the emotional and controversial ending of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship in Abu Dhabi, the race that saw Lewis Hamilton lose the title on the last lap after dominating up until the very end of the race.
The Mercedes team principal reflected on those intense moments, taking aim at then-race director Michael Masi.
“I hadn’t experienced such a loss of control since I was a child,” Toto Wolff admitted. “There was a Lunatic who had the power to destroy the record of the greatest driver of all time with one decision and that’s exactly what happened.”
Susie Wolff shared her own emotional view of that night, describing a deep sense of disbelief at how events unfolded.
“It was pure disbelief,” she said.
”That one person’s decision to interpret the rules in a way they had never been interpreted before led to such a huge outcome. It weighed heavily on me for a long time afterwards.”
Despite the lingering pain, Susie was careful to separate her frustration over the decision from any resentment toward Max Verstappen himself.
“I was devastated in Abu Dhabi, but not because Max won, he was a deserving champion,” she clarified. “It was about how it happened. Lewis was the better driver that day, he was leading and dominating that race and deserved the win.”
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