A former British racing driver has urged Formula 1 fans whose passion for the sport was affected by the controversial end to the 2021 season to give it a second chance.
F1 has enjoyed a huge boost in popularity in recent years with new fans from across the world tuning in to watch the action on a Grand Prix weekend. The increased interest is credited, at least in part, to the success of the Netflix Drive to Survive docu-drama.
Increased competition at the front of the grid and the enthralling title race between Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton and arch Red Bull rival Max Verstappen will also have helped last season. Formula 1 races were not to be missed, especially in the final weeks of the campaign.
But feelings from fans have been largely negative since the controversial way in which the title race was decided in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton fans feel their idol was "robbed" of an eighth world crown, with bizarre decisions from the race director at the time, Michael Masi, leading to him being overtaken by Verstappen on the final lap.
Meanwhile, those who support the Dutchman have been left in no doubt that their racer deserved to become world champion for his performances and results across the season. What all parties can agree on is that the controversy did not make anyone look good.
The worry is that some fans, particularly those who are still relatively new to the sport, might have been put off following it in the future due to all the ill-feeling and acrimony. F1 legend Johnny Herbert said that a group of people he met in a pub recently told him that they would not be tuning in.
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The former racer, now a pundit for Sky Sports F1, "understands why" that is the case and is worried that there will be many others across the world who feel the same way. He believes, however, that those considering moving on from the sport will give it a second chance.
"I think they should come back because the drivers will still be doing the job that excited us last year and we won't be seeing that silliness that happened at the end last season," he told the Daily Mail . "Don't go away! You'll still get a kick out of it."
Masi has since been removed from his role, with Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich now set to split the race director role in the coming season with the support of the veteran Herbie Blash. While some others in his position advocated for Masi to also be given a second chance, Herbert maintains that getting rid of the Australian was the right thing to do.
"When the pressure is on you can't crack to the pressure and make up your own rules, which is what we saw in Abu Dhabi and that's an absolute no-no," he added. "A driver's trust is paramount and so change needed to happen.
"You can't forget it because it's something we can't see happen again. It was very unfortunate and something had to change. Eduardo is someone I know very well, Niels not so much but I know with Eduardo he has a good reputation, a hard reputation – he won't put up with any silliness and I think that's a good thing.
"Drivers and teams need to have that ability to have the trust when they have that discussion either on radio or a chat in a session after a race. It was the right thing to do and I think it can only be a positive thing for the future."
