F1 equivalent of the Maradona mishandling

I tuned into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday lunchtime, no doubt joined by millions of British Formula 1 fans hoping to see Lewis Hamilton win his eighth world title, or at least see good clean racing and the title won fair and square for either driver.

What transpired reminded me of what occurred in the June 1986 Argentina v England World Cup Quarter Final; Diego Maradona handballing into the England net, a ‘goal’ that should never have stood of course, but incredibly did and resulted in Argentina winning 2-1 and going on to lift the World Cup, and how different things could have been…

Masi’s U-turn on letting cars unlap themselves after Latifi’s shunt and the safety car deployment of course resulted in Hamilton’s 10 second-plus lead being erased plus the small matter of five back markers for Verstappen to pass in one lap.

Ham on shot tyres and Verstappen on relatively new, it was an early Christmas present for the latter from the race director.

Horner’s flippant remarks about supplying Latifi with free Red Bull for life for effectively winning them the driver’s title only proves deep down they know they didn’t win this fairly, but this attitude seems the norm nowadays in sport.

TONY BECK Brownfield Gardens

Maidenhead