Ella Gilbert
Going into the weekend, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and his rival Max Verstappen were on equal points in the Formula One World Championship. Abu Dhabi was bound to be a tense watch from the beginning, but nobody could have predicted the events that were about to unfold.
This is the most competitive season that Formula One has seen in recent years. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has been challenging with his rival Max Verstappen all season. With controversial events like collisions at Silverstone and Monza and penalty after penalty, it was expected that the season finale would be a stressful watch with an angry Team Principal on the FIA radio, no matter who won.
After Hamilton’s victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last week, Verstappen and Hamilton were on equal points heading into the final race of the season. Verstappen qualified first by three-tenths of a second but Hamilton was still the fan-favourite to win. It would be a momentous victory for either of the competitors- Verstappen with his maiden championship and Hamilton with his record-breaking eighth Championship Title.
It’s Lights Out And Away We Go
As the race started, Hamilton pulled away faster than his competitor and took the lead going into the first corner. Mercedes looked to be the faster car today, right from lights out. However, Verstappen wasn’t going to let his first championship go easily.
Verstappen has been controversial in the past for his ‘aggressive’ driving style and ballsy overtakes but is that what puts him in contention for a title? Still in the first lap, Verstappen saw an opportunity to take back the lead and tried to overtake on the inside of Turn 9. He gets ahead by half a car before Hamilton turns the corner and the pair almost collide. To avoid the pair crashing, and victory going to Verstappen, Hamilton runs off the track and re-joins later on ahead of the Dutch driver.
Fans and commentators were divided over whether Hamilton should have been penalised for gaining advantage by going off the track. It’s been a season full of investigations, penalties and upset over the stewards’ decision. On this occasion, stewards ruled that Verstappen regained any advantage he had lost so no further investigation was necessary. People were divided over whether Hamilton should have returned the position or not, especially following the five-second penalty Verstappen received for a similar event in Saudi Arabia.
Watching that back, I personally feel Max was entitled to that position. He gets down the inside, makes the corner, and if the next corner isn’t a right hander for Hamilton to cut then he’s ahead. Just my opinion. #F1 #AbuDhabiGP
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) December 12, 2021
Prayers To The “Racing Gods”
As it’s the end of the season, some of the other cars were beginning to struggle with various engine and braking issues. We saw George Russell retiring early in his last race for Williams before his move to Mercedes next season and 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen retire as well in final ever Formula 1 race.
For the majority of the race it seemed that Hamilton had a victory in the bag. Mercedes were running faster than Red Bull and despite some fantastic defence from his teammate, Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, Verstappen was unable to get back in front of the Brit. Mercedes were matching Red Bull’s strategies, at first, so that Verstappen couldn’t gain any advantage. With 10 laps to go, it looked unlikely that Verstappen would be able to catch up with Hamilton to even be in with a chance of winning.
“He needs some luck from the racing gods on these last 10 laps. We’re going to give it everything as we have done all year. He’ll drive his heart out the last ten laps.” – Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal
Perhaps the “racing gods” were listening to Horner’s prayers as soon after, in lap 54 Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams car into a barrier, prompting a safety car to ensure the track was cleared. It was unclear whether the normal racing would be able to resume or whether it would finish under safety car. One thing was clear, however, this could give Verstappen one final chance to clench the championship.
The Final Battle
Red Bull decided to pit Verstappen giving him fresher tyres for a possible final push, while Mercedes kept Hamilton out to preserve track position. There were several lapped cars between the two championship contenders and originally the stewards decided to leave them as they were. A last minute decision was announced that the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen could overtake the safety car and un-lap themselves. The safety car was to end with one racing lap to go.
Verstappen undoubtedly received an advantage from this with his newer tyres, and sure enough, as soon as the safety car ended Verstappen seized the opportunity. A tense and competitive season culminated to a final lap battle between the rivals, where Verstappen ultimately won and claimed his first victory.
Controversies Over The Final Decision
It’s hard to navigate what would be the fairest final decision following Latifi’s crash. Perhaps had the race been red-flagged, Hamilton would have been able to hold on to his first-place but its difficult to predict. Unsurprisingly, Mercedes have protested this decision, and argue that there were broken regulations. The stewards have dismissed their protests so far but more appeals and possible court cases are expected.
It seems unlikely that the FIA would strip Verstappen of his title, especially considering the appealed decision is against stewards rather than the driver, and Red Bull will certainly be celebrating tonight. It’s a bittersweet night for Mercedes, while they hold their eighth constructors championship, they can’t help but feel cheated of the driver’s championship.
Both Hamilton and Verstappen deserved to and had the potential to win today, but unfortunately only one can. It’ll be a long few months until we see the rivals back on the tracks again, battling for the 2022 title.
Image courtesy of randomwinner via Pixabay. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
