“I never saw a more unfair game. For you, it is funny. For me, it is just expensive. I told the boys: ‘Football is a result game,’ but if you can’t get a performance, what can you get? The only thing we didn’t get today other than decisions is the results.” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said this after his team came up short against rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The worst part? It was through no fault of their own. A fight between rivals ruined by the interference of a third party, who just so happens to be the authority. This situation must’ve felt all too familiar for Arsenal fan and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.  

A 2-1 loss that should’ve been at least a 2-2 draw (if not a win) left Liverpool dejected. The Reds played a near-perfect match, but as Klopp said, the decisions weren’t in their favor. Sound familiar? Hamilton drove a near-perfect race in Abu Dhabi in 2021. But the decisions weren’t in his favor, and Max Verstappen was gifted his first title. Liverpool’s win would’ve taken it to the top of the Premier League table. Hamilton’s win would’ve indisputably made him the most successful F1 driver. In both cases, it wasn’t meant to be.

Human error: Lewis Hamilton and Liverpool’s mutual foe

The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP was a title-deciding race. Whoever—between Hamilton and Verstappen—finished higher was guaranteed the win. With just 10 laps to go, Hamilton had around a 10-second gap to Verstappen in second. A late crash further down the field led to a Safety Car, allowing Verstappen to change his tires. In an ideal world, the race would’ve ended behind the safety car. However, the FIA and the Race Director made a ‘human error’ regarding lapped cars. Ultimately, it became a one-lap shootout, ending with Verstappen crossing the line first and a Hamilton heartbreak.

Coming to the Liverpool-Tottenham match. In soccer, the entire concept of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was built to reduce human error. For a team notoriously known to become a benefactor of VAR, Saturday couldn’t have been worse for Liverpool. It started with an ill-deserved Yellow-turned-Red Card for Curtis Jones, leaving Liverpool with just 10 men. A while later, Luiz Diaz scored a stunning goal, which was then called offside. The thing is, it wasn’t an offside. The PGMOL—the referee’s association—released a statement after the game. As quoted by Liverpool.com, “The goal by Luiz Díaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.”

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It further read, “This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention. However, the VAR failed to intervene.” Let’s compare this to the FIA’s report from March 2022 about that night in Abu Dhabi. The FIA wrote, “The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one, and human error led to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. The report finds that the Race Director was acting in good faith.” That’s the thing. The Race Director’s good faith didn’t give Hamilton his eighth title. The VAR’s non-intervention handed Liverpool the loss.

Read More: Struck by Deja Vu, F1 Veteran Labels Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi Defeat Against Verstappen as His “Best Moment” in Controversial Declaration

The good thing about the Premier League is that Liverpool can avenge its loss in the second half of the season. Hamilton, on the other hand, won’t get the opportunity to take revenge on Verstappen in the near future. The only silver lining for Hamilton? Revenge isn’t his intention.

Hamilton let Verstappen off the hook for Abu Dhabi ‘21

The seven-time champion’s contract with Mercedes was ending this season. With contract negotiations throughout the season, the 38-year-old announced a two-year extension at the Italian GP. This came after he said he had no intention of racing after he turned 40. But with his two-year deal, that’s now inevitable. It raised the question: is he staying put in F1 to ensure he gets revenge for 2021? According to a YouTube video by The Race, “Discussing his new contract at Monza, Hamilton refused to acknowledge his controversial 2021 defeat to Max Verstappen as a key motivator, saying, ‘I’m not really a revenge person. It’s not about revenge.’”

While it may not be about revenge, Hamilton revealed he still has unfinished business with Mercedes. And that includes beating Red Bull. When asked what he meant by “unfinished business,” he said, “We’re trying to win more championships. I think the unfinished business is getting us back to the top. It’s getting back and fighting for the world championship. I think, yeah, getting us back to where we belong and operate on all those cylinders, which you’re seeing Red Bull do.”

Watch This Story: F1 Clarifies Safety Car Rules That Cost Lewis Hamilton The 2021 Championship

Now that things have gotten more automated in F1, have you seen an improvement in procedure? Or do you feel F1’s automated calls may be like VAR and cause Lewis Hamilton more heartbreak?