### “Adrian Newey on Abu Dhabi 2021: Mercedes’ Psychological Struggle and Verstappen’s Resilience

Adrian Newey shares his thoughts on the 2021 Abu Dhabi race, noting that Mercedes struggled to move on from the outcome.

Adrian Newey thinks that what happened in Abu Dhabi in 2021 had a mental impact on Mercedes, as they struggled to come to terms with the outcome.

Max Verstappen secured the 2021 drivers' championship in a contentious manner, taking advantage of a questionable call made by race director Michael Masi, which ultimately disadvantaged Lewis Hamilton.

Masi failed to implement the FIA's sporting rules related to the Safety Car properly. This mistake allowed several lapped cars to overtake and un-lap themselves, providing Verstappen, who had new tires, an unobstructed chance to catch up to Hamilton.

The conclusion of the race sparked a lot of debate, with a significant number of people feeling that Hamilton was unjustly denied his chance to win a historic eighth title.

Despite not being directly involved in Masi's decision, Red Bull faced some criticism, mainly for urging him to restart the race while it was under the Safety Car.

During an interview on the High Performance podcast, Newey discussed the events of Abu Dhabi 2021 and hinted that Mercedes did not handle the situation appropriately.

"It didn't impact me at all," he clarified. "I believe it had an effect on Mercedes. Rather than accepting it and moving forward, it seemed to influence their mindset in an intriguing way."

"From an external perspective, I might be entirely mistaken. It seems like they couldn't move past it mentally. When you experience a disappointing race, maybe one you should have won but had a mechanical failure on the final lap, it can be tough. Personally, I always took such losses hard. I would be insufferable at the airport that Sunday evening, but by Monday morning, I had to shake it off and refocus."

"I can't enter the factory feeling sad and negative. I think my role involves supporting and hopefully inspiring everyone, instead of complaining that 'it's so unfair, we were cheated.' That kind of attitude isn't helpful, is it?"

Newey rejected claims that the discussions about the 2021 Abu Dhabi event affected Verstappen.

He commented, "Max is incredibly confident. This is meant in a good sense, not a bad one. There's a difference between arrogance and self-assurance. He isn't arrogant; he's just very self-assured and self-confident."

"He’s a thoughtful person, but he doesn’t let such concerns affect him. I don’t believe they bother him much. He can turn off those thoughts and focus on his passion, which is racing cars."

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