The problem with this is that instead of an unequivocal win, what you have is a race that ended with several different possible outcomes, depending on which decision the race director took. Essentially he introduced a variable where none should exist. The race should be run against a fixed set of rules, taking out any possibilty to externally influence the outcome DIRECTLY in one of several ways.
If the rules are followed then there’s no variable and therefore no alternate outcomes….an unequivocal result. Unfortunately the rules would have got in the way of the outcome that F1 was looking for (racing to the end) so instead we got more racing and a result based on the decision race officials took.
Mercedes decision not to pit was absolutely the correct decision to win them the race, had the race been run on conventional rules. An accident happens, that takes several laps to clear, followed by a lap for cars to unlap themselves, followed by a lap for the safety car to leave the circuit, at which point the race distance is run. Race run, job done by Mercedes. But instead something else happened, based on some unprescedented modification of the usual procedures…..so Mercedes ended up with a plan for a different race, with the obvious outcome. One reasonable alternative could have been to red flag the race straight after the accident then run the last 5 laps as a short sprint race to the finish. Obviously both teams would be able to prepare themselves based on how they think they can win it. As it worked out, standard rules cancelled Red Bull’s time deficite so the rules handed them new rubber without time penalty and the race director provided them with the opportunity to use it.
The one good thing out of all this is that we’ll probably see a revved up Lewis Hamilton in 2022. This whole thing is a failing on the part of F1 and in no way reflects on drivers. The facts are that Lewis Hamilton should be World Champion and that Max Verstappen won the race as organisers defined it and should be World Champion. That’s not a contradiction…its the situation the 2021 season has left us with.