Former Mercedes chief backs Verstappen: 'Quite happy that he won last year'
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- GPblog.com
Former Mercedes executive Paddy Lowe admits he was "quite happy" to see Max Verstappen win the championship in 2021, despite the debate that erupted over it. For that reason, Lowe is all the happier that Verstappen added a second world title without any doubt.
Lowe, who served as executive director at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016, is happy that Verstappen won the title this year without controversy. At the same time, he does not necessarily side with his old employer when it comes to the outcome of the championship in 2021.
Former Mercedes chief sides with Verstappen
"Good to see Max secure a championship without any argument. I was quite happy that he won it last year, actually," he states in conversation with PlanetF1.com, although he adds that that opinion might not resonate with everyone. Lowe stresses, however, that Formula 1 is a risky sport and that sometimes luck is on your side and other times it is not.
Moreover, the Briton feels that then-race leader Michael Masi was unfairly pilloried. "I did feel sorry for the race director actually, I think he got the wrong end of that really unfairly to me. There was no right or wrong answer there. He did his job, he was the ref," Lowe said.