FIA Abu Dhabi report won't ease feeling "dead duck" Lewis Hamilton was "robbed" - Damon Hill

Damon Hill and Lewis Hamilton — Photo: © LAT Images

Formula 1

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FIA Abu Dhabi report won't ease feeling "dead duck" Hamilton was "robbed" - Hill

The FIA published its report into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday

Sam Hall & Ewan Gale

Sunday 20 March 2022 08:00

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Damon Hill has insisted the report from the FIA into the Abu Dhabi controversy will not "console or comfort" those who feel Lewis Hamilton was "robbed" of an eighth F1 title.

The governing body released the findings of its inquiry into the processes used at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, suggesting "human error" from former race director Michael Masi was to blame for the mistakes that led to Hamilton losing out to Max Verstappen on the last lap.

Addressing the findings on Sky Sports F1, Hill said: "It's not going to change the result.

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"The moment Mercedes withdrew their appeal and decided they were not going to pursue this in the courts or international courts or whatever, the matter was over frankly, the award was given to Max Verstappen.

"This is not going to console or in any way comfort people that believe Lewis Hamilton was robbed of an eighth world title.

"They're sort of admitting that it was a wrong decision but they're not admitting that affected the outcome of the world championship."

Former F1 champion Hill was also critical of the constant interpreting of the regulations rather than sticking to the letter of the law, with the report highlighting the will to finish under green-flag conditions.

"It used to be that you had a set of regulations and everyone understood what to expect when a procedure was happening," he added.

"But throughout last year there was a moving of the targets, whether it was track limits, whether it was overtaking procedures, and some of that was pushed by drivers, by team managers.

"The FIA and F1 responded to the demands of fans to see better racing and so all of those regulations suddenly became moveable things and that is really why it ended up where it did I think.

"And the race director thought 'I'm going to apply the flexible interpretation to the regulations and give the people what they want with a thrilling last lap' which is exactly what happened.

"Unfortunately, Lewis was a dead duck as soon as the safety car came in."