Toto Wolff has said he is looking forward to working with the FIA in the future to learn from events of Abu Dhabi, and has also said he hopes actions can be taken rather than words just being said.

The 2021 Formula 1 season thrilled greatly but ended in controversial circumstances with Max Verstappen pipping Lewis Hamilton to the title after a frantic final lap shootout that was triggered by Race Director Michael Masi bringing in the Safety Car and only allowing certain cars through to unlap themselves.

Indeed, that has sparked fierce debate in the weeks since and the FIA have confirmed that they are going to conduct a thorough review into those closing laps, with the full findings set to be unveiled just before the Bahrain Grand Prix in March.

You have to trust that they will conduct a meticulous investigation, too, and Wolff is hoping that actions can then be taken from their findings:

“It is very deep. Lewis, I and the whole team are disillusioned. We love this sport because it is honest,” he said to Auto Motor und Sport.

“The stopwatch never lies, but when we break the fundamental principle of fairness and the stopwatch is no longer relevant, then you doubt this sport. That all the work, blood, sweat and tears can be taken away from you. It will take a long time to digest that.

toto wolff

“I don’t think we’ll ever get over it, especially Lewis as a driver. We can at least try, together with the FIA, to do better in the future.”

“There has to be clarity about the rules before the start of the new season so that every driver, every team and every fan knows what is allowed and what is not. At the end of the day, we are providing entertainment, but no decision should break the rules for the sake of the show.”

It was a far from ideal way for the season to end but that is what happened and now we'll all eagerly await the results of the investigation that the FIA are undertaking.