Abu Dhabi: Four-time world champion Alain Prost felt that Lewis Hamilton should have held on for victory at the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton had overtaken teammate Nico Rosberg after the pole leader went into the pits for a tyre change midway through the race, but Rosberg reclaimed the lead after Hamilton himself was called in with 15 laps to spare.
Before entering the pits, Hamilton had pleaded with his crew to let him hang on for the win on his existing tyres but the garage said it would be too much of a risk.
Much was made of that decision especially as, with the drivers’ and constructors’ championships already wrapped up, three-time world champion Hamilton essentially had nothing to lose. And fans were deprived the chance of seeing the Mercedes rivals scrap it out until the bitter end.
“For the last race, why not?” said Prost in a chat with Gulf News, when asked if Hamilton should have risked it.
“That would have been our decision, for sure,” added the 60-year-old Frenchman, who equated it to his own time in F1 where he endured a bitter rivalry with late McLaren teammate Aryton Senna, and would continually forfeit collective team glory in order to get one over on the Brazilian, who was killed at an accident in the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
“In general, if you take all these kind of things, F1 is a little bit too restrictive nowadays for sure,” added Prost, who got 51 wins and 106 podiums in 199 starts from 1980 to 1993.
He also saw it from the team’s point of view however, where ending the season with a one-two, regardless of what order, would have been of utmost importance to Mercedes, rather than risking a late retirement to one or maybe even both of their drivers.
“I think if he [Hamilton] had continued, I don’t think he would have been able to win the race anyway. I think the tyres would have dropped and he could have lost second position as well.
“So, for me, you must always consider team spirit and if the team had already decided what they’d do before the race, you cannot interfere with what the team has already discussed. You could say for one race why not? But I always prefer the drivers and engineers decide their strategy. You know, that’s modern F1.”
