A deserving champion, but a controversial race!
As much as we wanted a calm season finale without controversy, in some ways it was only right that a season as dramatic as this one, ended with a last lap duel between the title contenders, which had been brought on by incorrect stewarding you can argue.
I don’t want to start this article with a discussion about the stewards, but I kind of have to, given it was another race full of unclear decisions by them. Beginning with the Lap 1 incident, it was a hard one to call, Max did stay on the track unlike Lewis, however you can argue he forced Hamilton off the track. I was surprised by the decision they made, as I thought the rules would force them to go the other way, but it wasn’t a terrible call. The worst decision of the day in my view, was that they left Giovinazzi on the exit of a fast corner, with not even a yellow flag for almost a minute, which to me is Stewarding 101, and shows there needs to be change in the FIA.
Then we get to the big one, and to be fair to them, it was a perfect storm, a worst case scenario, where their decisions would directly affect the title. At the end of the day, F1 is a sport not a business, so racing, and thus finishing under green is a priority. However, the whole situation was not handled well, it felt as though the team principals were as much in charge as the FIA were. It was sort of naughty what the FIA did, and by the letter of the law they have every right to do it, and they gave us an epic last lap. My concern is for the future, you need to be clear to the teams what the Safety Car procedure is, and not keep changing it, as this will affect teams’ decisions, as we saw on Sunday. I think it would have been better to Red Flag the race, and have a standing restart.
Were Red Bull and Max lucky? Yes, they even admitted it themselves. Over the balance of the season did they deserve some luck? Yes, but maybe not quite that much. Nevertheless, it is a well deserved title for Verstappen, he has been excellent for a lot of the season, including on Saturday. The Red Bull was the faster car overall, although not by much, and they have done some incredible strategies, such as at France. In the race, Max pushed his luck, as we have seen all season, but what do you expect in a season finale! The move at Turn 5 on the last lap was rather aggressive, and looked to be the wrong move, as there were two long straights for Lewis to pass him back. On the whole, Verstappen needs to calm down his driving, I hope that comes with age and experience. The other big issue has been starts, which could have cost him the title, although they didn’t have the pace anyway. As for Perez, what a defence he put up against Hamilton, to allow Max to gain 7 seconds. The key thing is that time gain allowed Verstappen to be within Lewis’ Safety Car pit window at the end of the race, so Checo may have directly helped him win the title. It was a shame to see him retire, but his pace was promising to end the season.
At the end of the day, Hamilton was robbed of the win, but not of the title, as when two drivers are equal after 21 rounds, no one is in a position to feel that way. You still have to feel for Lewis though, as he did everything right, and the way he took defeat was inspirational to the younger generation, especially as he hasn’t lost for 5 years. Mercedes and Hamilton can be proud of their fight this year, to even take the title to the last round, but after winning for so many years, luck doesn’t always go your way. I do have some complaints though about the way Toto has handled the situation. Firstly, telling the Race Director to not put out a Safety Car, to me is downright unacceptable, he is trying to compromise safety for his own benefit. That in my opinion should be a fine. Then with respect to the appeals, I understand appealing the Safety Car situation, as it was a farce, yet to appeal Max doing a slight overtake on Lewis, which had no bearing on the outcome, and that we see all the time unintentionally, stank of desperation to me. As I said, I can see why Mercedes appealed the Safety Car procedure, and they have a right to be aggrieved. However, with the appeals denied, and a clear rule to show why it has been denied, what do they have to gain by going further with it. There is little chance of it being overturned, and even if you do, how will Hamilton feel about earning his 8th title weeks later in a court, and all at the cost of positive publicity, which will hurt their fans and sponsors. This isn’t the first title where you can argue who deserved to win, and it won’t be the last!
As much as I have loved the title battle, I am glad to have finished that part of the article! As for Ferrari, a podium was the perfect way to end the year, Sainz has been excellent all year, bearing in mind he joined a new team, against another young star, who he has matched. Leclerc was unlucky too in the race, they gambled with pitting him for a 2 stop, which didn’t work, and cost him 5th in the driver’s title.
McLaren had a difficult day, Norris was up with the Ferrari’s, right between them in fact. But pitted after Charles did, and dropped to the back of the top 10. 6th in the drivers’ championship doesn’t show how good his season started. Ricciardo is still not happy with that McLaren, so it may be good that he will not drive it in anger again. Finishing the year out of the points is pretty bad for a race winner.
It was a superb day for the whole Red Bull family, as AlphaTauri got 4th and 5th. Undoubtedly aided by others pitting ahead, although you have to be there to take it, and they were very quick in the race. Tsunoda is starting to come into his own, and his aggression on the last lap was commendable. Bottas was a disaster this weekend, I don’t like to talk about drivers in this way, and I understand it is hard to pass in that car, but Lewis needed him in the battle, that’s part of what cost them the title. It is a sad way to end his career with the team, and I hope he finds his form again at Alfa Romeo.
Alpine have ended another weird year with a double points weekend, Ocon and Alonso have been solid for the team, and whilst they have shown promise, including a win, a manufacturer team needs to do more in F1. Aston Martin can rejoice, the season is over, and to be fair to them, they didn’t do badly at all, given the rules were aimed to slow their cars down. Can a clean slate bring them back to the front?
We knew it would be bad for Alfa Romeo, Williams, and Haas, but I didn’t see only 1 of those 6 cars finishing. Mazepin had the worst luck, catching covid. Then both Alfa’s seemed to have different mechanical issues which ended their time in F1, which is especially sad for Kimi. Russell seemed to lose all power, maybe due to an engine just timing out, and Latifi lost the car in Mick’s dirty air. Oh, and by the way, there is absolutely no reason to abuse Latifi about his affect on the title fight, he did nothing wrong, he was just trying to race!
I started the weekend by hoping that F1 would be the real winners from this event, and whilst there is the controversy, and questions over whether it was right, at the end of the day: both drivers, who deserved the title, battled on the last lap of the season for the title, and both finished the race. The mainstream media will pick up the grandstand finish and run with it. Hamilton may have had bad luck, however, Verstappen still had to pass him cleanly to win, and he did just that!
-M
Meaning of Motorsport 