Max Verstappen Crowned F1 Champion amid Controversy
Max Verstappen has won his first Formula One World Drivers’ Championship by taking victory at the season-ending 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, though fans, pundits, and drivers are likely to argue about the result for years to come.
The 2021 season has been mired by puzzling refereeing decisions and this final race was no exception. Though few can say Verstappen doesn’t deserve the championship, it would be equally difficult to argue that Hamilton wasn’t robbed of victory at this particular grand prix.
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Verstappen and Hamilton started the race tied in points, essentially making it a straight fight to the finish. Whoever scored more points would win the championship. If they both failed to score points, Verstappen would be crowned champion on account of having more race wins in 2021.
After passing Verstappen at the start, Hamilton held a commanding lead throughout most of the race and clearly had the faster car. But on lap 53 of 58, a tangle between Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi led to the latter crashing into a wall, bringing out the safety car.
Playing it cautiously and probably anticipating the race to finish under said safety car, Mercedes opted to keep Hamilton out on his well-worn tires. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing brought Verstappen into the pits for a fresh set of rubber, giving him the best chance at making a move during the restart — should a restart even take place.
Crucially, five lapped cars stood between Hamilton and Verstappen. The typical safety car procedure is that once the track has been cleared, lapped cars may pass the leaders to make their way around the circuit toward the back of the queue. One lap later, the safety car returns to the pits and the race gets back under way.
Had this happened, the race would have ended under the safety car — an anticlimactic conclusion to an epic championship. One rule-friendly alternative was to restart the race without letting lapped cars go through, thus enabling the safety car period to end one lap sooner and giving drivers just a single racing lap to the finish. But Verstappen would have to get past five cars before having a shot at Hamilton, thus heavily favoring Hamilton to win.
At first, race control confirmed this was indeed the chosen course of action, which Red Bull protested. Then came the contentious decision: Only lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen would be allowed through and the safety car would go back to the pits on the same lap (rather than the following one per the above procedure).
This was unprecedented and put Verstappen right on Hamilton’s gearbox with just a single racing lap to go. And with his tire advantage, he had no trouble getting past the seven-time champion and holding on to that lead to the checkered flag, winning the grand prix and the title with it.
Will the decision hold? Neither the teams nor drivers did anything wrong, but race director Michael Masi is no doubt coming under fire as Mercedes has already protested the results of the race. Why were only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen allowed through, but not the others? Why didn’t the safety car stay out for another lap? These are legitimate questions and if the FIA doesn’t play along, there’s a chance it will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
From a spectator perspective, Hamilton no doubt deserved to win at Abu Dhabi. But athletes don’t always get the wins they deserve, and that’s just a part of sport — plus, it’s hard to feel bad about Verstappen winning the championship, as he has had more than his own fair share of misfortune throughout the season. On the sum of the 22 races that took place this year, he has been the driver most deserving of the title.
Let’s hope the results do not get decided in court. But no matter what those results may be, it’s been a hell of a championship with countless unpredictable twists and turns. Full credit to Verstappen and Hamilton both for making the rest of the grid seem like amateurs in 2021. And how typical of Honda to leave the sport after finally getting some silverware!
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.