Lewis Hamilton did not consider retiring from Formula One following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix controversy; however, he “lost a little bit of faith” in the fair policies.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen edged Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix—and the world champion title—after a controversial final lap. A late safety car came out for a Nicholas Latifi crash with just a few laps to go. Red Bull brought in Verstappen to switch to soft tires, but Hamilton had to stay out on his hard tires to keep the lead. Due to lapped cars, there were five cars between first-place Hamilton and second-place Verstappen. Race officials initially decided those lapped cars could not overtake the safety car.
F1 race director Michael Masi decided to allow those five cars in-between Verstappen and Hamilton to overtake the safety car at the last second, putting Verstappen right on Hamilton's tail for a last-lap mad dash to the finish. Formula One stewards eventually dismissed both of Mercedes’ protests, and FIA's analysis resulted in Masi being removed from his position as Formula One race director.
