Damon Hill accused Red Bull of interfering in the F1 event director's decision

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill accused Red Bull of interfering in F1 race director Michael Massy's decision.

Last Sunday's season finale seemed like a win for Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton 13 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen with 10 laps left. However, Nicholas Latifi hit the wall on lap 53 and triggered a safety car.

Verstappen switched to soft tyres at the pit stop under the safety car, while Mercedes didn't let Hamilton pit stop because Hamilton would lose track position if he pitted.

At first, the race seemed to end under the safety car, with Marcy claiming that the five snare cars between Hamilton and Verstappen on the field would not be unset, but after speaking with Red Bull team leader Christian Horner, he changed his mind, let the five cars unwind, and then resumed racing.

Mercedes was furious because it undoubtedly gave Verstappen an advantage, with the Red Bull riders fitting on the new soft tyres and hamils on the hard tyres that had run more than 40 laps. Hamilton was unable to defend, losing both race victory and drivers' championship titles to Verstappen.

Hill said: "I think these are the new rules, I think it's a new style of game coaching and I think Mercedes have been struggling with the decisions that have been made. Red Bull persuaded the event supervisor to allow the game to resume, and the moment the decision was made, they had already won. ”

Sunday's victory increased Verstappen's winning appearances this season to 10, with the Dutch taking an eight-point lead over Hamilton to win the championship, but Hill disagreed with Red Bull's tactics and their spirit of play.

He said: "I sympathize with Lewis, who is fighting with everything he has with Mercedes, but they are facing a very strong Red Bull team and a very strong driver. ”