Formula One (F1) aficionados and casual followers of the sport are well aware that the 2021 F1 Driver’s Championship title was decided on the last lap of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi on 12th December in rather controversial circumstances.
After the longest season in its history, which saw seven-time overall, and four-time defending champion Lewis Hamilton and rising star Max Verstappen slug away at each other in the manner of two world-class boxers, for 22 Grands Prix, it’s a tragic ending to what many serious F1 followers had considered one of the best seasons ever.
After the 18th round in Mexico, which Verstappen won handily to take a 19-point lead, any hope Hamilton had of retaining the title seemed all but lost. However, in what could best be described as a Hollywood-scripted comeback, Hamilton reeled off three consecutive wins in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with Verstappen trailing in second place on all three occasions, to draw level on points at 369.5. It was down to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, winner take all. Liberty Media, the US corporate giant which bought controlling interest in F1 in January 2017 for US$8 billion, must have been drooling at the prospect of its potential television audience, which grew by an estimated 73 million viewers this year, for the final showdown.
Following an electrifying start, Hamilton snatched the lead, only to be forced wide going into a turn on the first lap by Verstappen as he charged for the inside line. Hamilton veered off the track, cut the corner and retook the lead, a manoeuvre which the stewards, debatably, found acceptable. With five laps remaining in the 58-lap race, Hamilton, enjoying a comfortable 12-second lead, appeared to be coasting to a record-breaking eight Driver’s Championship Title when the dominoes started collapsing. Williams’s Nicholas Latifi crashed and the safety car was brought out, as the stewards tried to clean up the debris as quickly as possible.
At this point in time, the team principals of the two championship rivals, Christian Horner of Red Bull and Toto Wolff of Mercedes adopted differing strategies. Horner immediately took Verstappen into the pits for a change of tyres, a ploy which did not cost him his position.
If one listens attentively to the five-minute conversation which occurred between Hamilton and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, his racing engineer, during the period that the safety car was on track, one gets the impression that Hamilton was analyzing the developing situation differently to Bono. Upon passing the hazard of the accident on turn 14, he posed what in hindsight may have been the million-dollar question, “Should I box?” – race parlance for going into the pits – to which Bono replied, “Negative.” Bono, the trusted voice in Hamilton’s ear since 2013, then relayed that Verstappen had pitted for fresh tyres, and that he would lose track position to Verstappen if he did likewise, and at this point in time it was about maintaining track position with just four laps remaining when Hamilton crossed the line. Bono intonated that he did not think the race would be restarted. One would have to assume that he thought the crash debris would not be cleared in time and the race would be completed under the auspices of the safety car, with no change in race position. A worried-sounding Hamilton queried whether Verstappen was right behind him, to which Bono responded that he would be once the order was sorted out. Hamilton expressed concern that his rival would be in that position with new tyres. Bono reiterated that he would lose track position if he attempted to do likewise. Hamilton then bemoaned the fact the safety car was going way too slow, an observation he repeated with desperation. Bono then stated that he believed the race would be restarted in the current order with the five lapped cars in between the two title contenders.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Horner queried getting the lapped cars out of the way, contending that only one racing lap was needed. F1A race director Michael Masi then approved that the five cars could unlap themselves, thus clearing the space between Hamilton and Verstappen. However, the other lapped cars – those behind Verstappen – were not given that option, which meant they did not have enough time to complete a final racing lap. The decision was in direct contradiction to that given by Masi in 2020 at the Eifel Grand Prix in Germany. There, he had ruled that there was a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past.
With that call made, Hamilton, despite his best efforts, could not hold off Verstappen, who had fresh tyres and no longer had five cars to pass or 11 seconds to make up. He sped past Hamilton on turn five to the finish line and the championship title. As expected, Mercedes duly filed two protests querying whether the correct protocol was followed with regards to the safety car and the level of discretion Masi had within the parameters of the regulations as set up by the FIA. Both were duly rejected four hours after the race was completed.
Long before the Red Bull team popped the champagne corks, the sports story of 2021 was raging on every platform available. Internet, radio and television sport pundits were dissecting every facet of Masi’s decision. The list of questions to ponder is far too long for this column, but some pertinent ones have to be asked. With such a sensitive situation on hand, why wasn’t the race red flagged (all cars would then have an equal opportunity to change tyres) when the crash occurred and restarted with the cars as they were? How can a team principal have a direct line to the F1A race director during a race? Was the race director pressured by F1 officials who wished for a better finish for the television audience? Was he intimidated by Horner? When Verstappen opted to pit, fully knowing that the lapped cars might not opt to change tyres, wasn’t he technically given an advantage when those cars were removed? Did the F1A break its own rules in this decision? Why weren’t all the lapped cars allowed through? Why wasn’t Carlos Sainz Jr in third place allowed the same benefit given to Verstappen, and provided the opportunity to challenge the leaders on the final lap? Why was the safety car pulled before the lapped cars had completed a lap? Is rule 15.3 which states in part… “The Race Director shall have overriding authority in the following matters… the control of practice, sprint qualifying, and the race … and the use of the safety car…” too vague? Does this clause give the Race Director too much latitude to apply the rules as he sees fit?
This debate will probably rage for time immemorial as F1 fans, who were enthralled all year- long by the tooth and nail battles to the finish have been left short-changed and with a bitter taste in their mouths with the way the title was decided off the track rather than on it. It’s quite clear that the current rather detailed F1A rule book was misinterpreted, deliberately or otherwise, by the race director under the glare of a global audience.
