MAX VERSTAPPEN beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2021 Formula One title thanks to CRAMP, Christian Horner has revealed.
Hamilton and Verstappen went wheel to wheel throughout the dramatic 2021 season, coming to a head with the finale in Abu Dhabi.
There had been a number of heated clashes throughout the season, but the controversial handling of a safety car restart at the end of the race allowed Verstappen to overtake Hamilton on the final lap.
The stunning conclusion to the season remains a bitter debate among fans, with Hamilton himself suggesting the title had been “manipulated”.
And while appearing on a Sky’s A League of Their Own, Red Bull team principal Horner was asked about the event.
Having just come off a chorus of boos, Horner asked whether there was a Dutch version of the show before jokingly saying he had no idea why it was controversial.
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Horner then explained that a poor strategy by Mercedes was partly to blame.
He said: “I mean Mercedes f***ed up. They left poor Lewis out there on tyres that had done pretty much most of the race and we pitted with Max so he was on a fresh set of tyres.
“Max made the move and the interesting thing was where Max passed him it caught Lewis completely by surprise.”
Horner, 49, then revealed how the Dutch driver was actually dealing with cramp at that point of the race.
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He added: “After the race what Max told us was that he didn’t intend to overtake there but he got cramp behind the safety car and he couldn’t feel his left foot properly.
“So he thought ‘Oh f*** it i’m going anyway’. And then when they were going down the straight he was trying to wake his left foot up to hit the brakes for the next chicane.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was also famously angry at the stunning turn of events, blasting race director Michael Masi down the radio over the race.
Asked why the Austrian was so angry, he said, Horner said: “I think he was just having a bad hair day.
“His hair is very important to him on the camera and I think he was just having a bad day.”
While on the show, Horner lifted the lid on the team’s party afterwards.
Red Bull partied on a £20million yacht following the race, with Horner revealing Verstappen was “wasted” during the party.
He also explained why he had been locked out of his house at Christmas.
The Red Bull boss is estimated to have a net worth of £41.4m and is married to Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell.
The aftermath of the season saw motorsport chiefs conduct an investigation that concluded “human error” played a hand in Verstappen landing his first F1 title.
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Masi left the FIA after being axed as race director and opened up on the mental turmoil the backlash had caused him earlier this year.
A League of Their Own airs on Sky Max and NOW, Wednesday’s at 9pm.
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
