What is the story behind #F1xed and why is Max Verstappen deemed as a fake World Champion?

What is the story behind #F1xed and why is Max Verstappen deemed as a fake World Champion?

Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen after the race

The 2021 F1 season was one for the books where fans got to witness a gruelling battle between the old guard and the new talent. Max Verstappen being the challenger, gave it everything in order to finish ahead while Lewis Hamilton kept his cool and managed to counter the Red Bull driver very well. The sheer amount of drama between drivers, team principals and even the fans last year was unimaginable and it didn’t end after the last race.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a magical weekend for F1. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both entered the weekend level on points. Whoever came out on top would effectively win the world drivers championship. After getting pole, Verstappen was ahead of Lewis when it came to grid positions but that didn’t affect the seven-time world champion. The Mercedes driver got the jump on Max and just kept going.

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Although many fans were in distress after the events that took place in the last few laps. A late safety car deployed due to Nicolas Latifi’s crash meant that Max Verstappen pitted for new softs and was lined behind Hamilton before the safety car ended to give spectators one last lap of action. The problem with the procedure lies in the lapped cars. A concerning call by Michael Masi who was the race director at that time, gave instructions to the lapped cars between Lewis and Max to go unlap themselves.

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Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the race to win the title

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battling it out at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battling it out at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021

This sparked a huge controversy as some fans felt that the calls made by Michael Masi were unfair and that the whole race was fixed. This gave birth to the “F1xed’ hashtag, on which people still tweet about the events that took place at the Abu Dhabi GP. After Max Verstappen passed Lewis, the Brit had no pace to keep up with the young lad, meaning he finished 2nd in the race and also in the championship.

Some Mercedes fans especially aren’t ready as of yet to accept that result and still protest about it to this day. Even after the clarifications and investigations provided by the FIA, the fans want Lewis Hamilton to be handed his 8th title. This has resulted in Max Verstappen being referred to as the “fake world champion”. Coming into the Singapore GP weekend, the Red Bull driver could mathematically win his second driver’s title which won’t sit well with some fans either, but that’s the sport for you.

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