The ending of the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi will go down as one of the most controversial decisions in F1’s history. The championship was decided when Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the season to become world champion. After all the chaos of the safety car and lapped cars was over, McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo was the one who had front row seats witnessing the battle between Max and Lewis.

Daniel mentioned at the safety car restart Hamilton was sitting duck against Verstappen. Max had pitted for fresher tires in the safety car period while Lewis stayed out in the lead. The Aussie driver had then mentioned he was glad that he was not part of the mess that was created.

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I really just felt for Lewis Hamilton: Daniel Ricciardo

As reported by Crash.net, Ricciardo revealed he felt bad for the 7-time world champion over the final laps of the 2021 season. He claimed that to see his lead disappear would have been heartbreaking for Hamilton. He also revealed that if he was in a position similar to Hamilton’s, he would not have reacted in the same manner.

“All I knew at the time is that Lewis had a relatively big lead. It looked like it was going to be wrapped up and then with one lap to go there was a restart and I knew that Max had pitted for fresher tires and I don’t think Lewis could have pitted, so I was just like ‘wow’,” said Daniel.

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“At that time, I really just felt for Lewis. He was laps away [from winning the title] and then through this, he couldn’t pit and then he was a bit of a sitting duck with one lap to go. 

“It’s not often you put yourself in another driver’s shoes, but for whatever reason, I was putting myself in his shoes that night, probably because I was seeing it all unfold in front of me. I was like, ‘I would not like to feel that, that’s some real heartbreak,” said Ricciardo.

Well, it is hard to disagree with Ricciardo over his views on Lewis Hamilton. But could the scenario have been different if he had pitted in the safety car period and challenged Verstappen over a lap? We will never know.

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