MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta says the way the 2021 F1 World Championship finale played out is not something he would like to see in the top level of motorbike racing. Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Motorsports, which operates the MotoGP championship, was asked for his opinion on how the title-deciding race between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton played out. The race remains under investigation by the FIA, with Verstappen winning the race and the title at the death after FIA Race Director Michael Masi withdrew a late Safety Car for the final lap. "No, I would not like to have a MotoGP finish like the one in F1," Ezpeleta told Spanish sports newspaper Marca , in response to whether the drama of the F1 finale was a dream for other motorsport series. "I wish there were two drivers fighting for the title in the last race, but the way the whole thing played out... "[I'm] not for or against anything. It has been a fantastic championship, fought throughout the year but, in the end, [it] has caused controversies that are not good. "I like to have a championship disputed until the very end, if it can be, but I don't like that, after the end, they created enough doubt that the runner-up [Hamilton] doesn't talk anymore."
MotoGP boss: "I don't dream about controversy"
Ezpeleta cited the 2015 MotoGP championship fight between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, which proved highly dramatic in the closing stages as Rossi kicked out and knocked over Marquez at the penultimate race in Malaysia. The subsequent penalty forced Rossi to start from the back for the season finale in Valencia, but he lost out on the title to Marquez. "I certainly don't dream about it [controversy]," Ezpeleta emphasised. "As I did not dream - although everyone was very happy from the point of view of media impact - with the 2015 mess between Rossi and Marquez. I don't dream about those things." But Ezpeleta added that the general increase in interest in motorsport, led by F1, has an impact on MotoGP – particularly as sporting bodies the FIA and FIM (MotoGP's equivalent) collaborate on improving track safety developments. "With F1 we have common interests; others divergent," he said. "We work together to improve the things that are common to us and the other, each one doing the best. I think the fact that F1 is doing well is good for us and the other way around, too."
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