As has become tradition in recent years, the final race of the season took us to Abu Dhabi for a sunset race with an explosive end, and believe it or not, I’m talking about the fireworks here! The two titans of the sport didn’t clash like we expected them to.
The title decider mirrored the rest of the season, not only were we treated to a battle down to the wire, but the ending was also marred in controversy and we were made to wait for a final verdict until hours after the race. 2021 has truly been a year like no other and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
For the final time this year, here are the report cards:
Top of the class:
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st
When you hear that Max has led an astonishing 652 laps to Hamilton’s 297, earning himself 18 podiums of which 10 were victories, you might be inclined to believe that Verstappen won this championship quite comfortably. Quite the opposite proved to be true however, as this WDC was won on the very last lap of the race.
In fact, for the longest time it looked like this win (and the accompanying title) wasn’t destined for Max, as after a lousy start Hamilton kept disappearing on the horizon again and again, no matter how hard both Bulls fought and strategized to keep him within reach. In the end, it was a late safety car brought out by Latifi which enabled the two titans to cross swords on the last lap.
And man, some really biased fangirling coming your way: That safety car, THAT FINAL LAP, THAT BATTLE TO THE FINISH, THAT OVERTAKE. I still cannot believe it… He did it, he really fucking did it! Max Verstappen is champion, actually genuinely a champion!
The sleepless nights, the heart-palpitations, the hyperventilating and the flapping around like an idiot were all worth it (and yes, I’m talking about myself here, because Max seemed to be cool as a cucumber until crossing the finish line). The Netherlands has their first Dutch F1 World Champion!
A last-race last-lap overtake sounds like the best way to win an F1 title, but with the controversy that followed, I’m sure that both Lewis and Max would’ve liked to have seen it happen a little differently. It’s in line with the rest of the season, though! Controversial, unbelievable and on-the-line… and looking back across F1 history, I’m sure that the championship fights doused in controversy are some of our favourites, so even whilst emotions run high now, I’m sure that we look back on this as an incredible year and will be wishing for this when championships will once more be won only halfway through the season with bigger points and pace gaps than F1 driver egos!
Honda must be exceptionally pleased to end their last year in F1 on a high note, especially when considering that the last Honda-powered Champion was Ayrton Senna in 1991, which is exactly 30 years ago.
It has to be said that it has been a good year for Dutchies in motorsport all-round. With Nyck de Vries taking home the championship title in Formula E and Jeffrey Herlings taking home the Championship title in MXGP – but for someone who’s been watching F1 since she was a wee little thing, Max winning the Championship is truly the stuff of dreams, particularly after the blockbuster-worthy season we’ve had.
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 2nd
Honestly, I couldn’t put Lewis on the struggle bus after a race like that. When Lewis missed out on pole on Saturday and Valtteri found himself down in 6th, it seemed that the Briton would have to fight an uphill battle to clinch his 8th world title. This wasn’t the case for most of the race, however, as Hamilton had an incredible start, scuffling only a little with Verstappen (which was judged to be a racing incident), before rapidly pulling a gap and disappearing on the horizon.
He drove a dominant race with incredible pace, meaning that Max’ teammate Sergio had to be roped into helping to slow him down and give the Dutchie a chance at catching up. Once Verstappen pitted for new tyres under the VSC, Hamilton became more agitated and anxious over the radio, questioning whether they’d made the right strategy call and whether they could extract enough pace to maintain the gap. That they could, as without the Safety Car Latifi brought out, it looked to be incredibly unlikely that the Dutchman would ever catch up.
In the end, that SC and the following restart for one last lap was Hamilton’s downfall. A rather controversial one, as Mercedes lodged two separate protests: One against Verstappen for allegedly attempting an overtake under the safety car, and one against the race director for the handling of the safety car. Both of these were dismissed post-race.
Mercedes has accepted the rejection their allegation against Verstappen, but have declared it will take the dismissal of its objection to the handling of that safety car period to the FIA International Court of Appeal. They have a 92-hour window to decide whether to proceed with the case.
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 5th | Race: 3rd
Carlos had an incredible first season with Ferrari, beating teammate Charles Leclerc with 5.5 points to finish 5th in the drivers’ championship. This final result was simply the cherry on top and certainly deserves some praise. Especially as his result kind of got snowed under by the fight for the title.
Admittedly, it was bad luck and a DNF for Checo which saw Sainz promoted to that third podium step, but it was simply a case of being in the right place at the right time, and the fact that this is Sainz’ fourth podium of the season shows that this most definitely wasn’t a fluke.
After Ferrari ended 6th in the constructor’s standings last year, finishing 3rd this year is a much better return, although a second consecutive winless year will still disappoint the Scuderia (especially considering how Monaco and Silverstone played out). It’s an upward trajectory though, one which would be promising if they could continue to develop this car. Only with the new regulations coming in for 2022, it’s anybody’s game, so who knows where the Spaniard will find himself back next year.
Yuki Tsunoda – Qualifying: 8th | Race: 4th
Yuki clearly needed to find his feet in what is the pinnacle of motorsport. The rookie had a season of the highest highs and the lowest lows, which was in stark contrast to his teammate Pierre Gasly, who had a rather consistent season existing of mostly highs.
The last race of the year played out in favour of the Japanese, leading the charge from the get-go and finishing in fourth after an absolute send on Valtteri at turn one in the one-lap dash at the end. These last results mean that AlphaTauri finished 6th in the Constructors’ standings, whilst Pierre and Yuki finish a respective 9th and 14th in the Drivers’ standings.
These final results will give AlphaTauri hope that they’ll have two consistently fast drivers on their hands for the 2022 season, so they just need to make sure that they’ll get the car up to scratch with the new regs.
Honourable Mention:
The honourable mention of the day goes to Sergio Pérez. Whilst Checo might not have the result to show for it, he was a key component in the final result, proving himself to be an excellent team-player all over the weekend. He didn’t just provide Max with a tow in his first qualifying lap of Q3 on Saturday, but also delayed his own pitstop and defended heavily against Lewis Hamilton to give Max a decent shot at closing the gap. This proved decisive as the race played out as Max remained in striking distances despite the advantage Mercedes had, with the team capitalising on a series of fortunate events (or unfortunate depending on who you support) to guide Max to glory.
The struggle bus:
Valtteri Bottas – Qualifying: 6th | Race: 6th
It’s no secret that neither myself of my good friend Jack have been less than impressed by the Finn this season (actually, not just this season…). Where Sergio proved to be the ultimate wingman for Max when he needed it the most, Bottas was simply MIA.
Unfortunately, this has been the case on far too many occasions this season, Imola and Sochi are two particular races that spring to mind. It was the same in Abu Dhabi as Valtteri faded into midfield mediocrity, struggling to get past the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda.
Despite having the optimal strategy, being stuck for so long took him out of play where the Championship fight was concerned. He was a distant fourth before the restart but fell behind both Tsunoda and Gasly on the final lap to finish his final race with Mercedes a disappointing 6th.
It will be interesting to see how Bottas will perform at Alfa Romeo next year, as he’ll have less pressure on his shoulders – Will this give him a chance to flourish? Or will he sink into oblivion? At least he’ll be taking a perfect Q3 record with him.
Williams
George Russell – Qualifying: 17th | Race: DNF
Nicolas Latifi – Qualifying: 16th | Race: DNF
On his 59th and last outing with Williams it was a gearbox issue which forced George Russell to retire the car in the early stages of the race. He will leave behind three years of memories at Williams to move to Mercedes for the 2022 season. A well-deserved upgrade, as he’s often pushed the car past what it was really capable of to squeeze the very last drop of performance out of it, although it is always a bit of a gamble to see whether the top dogs will remain the top dogs with new regulations entering the chat.
His teammate Latifi followed in the closing stages of the race, hitting the barriers on lap 54 whilst fighting with Mick Schumacher to bring out the Safety Car, the very same Safety Car which allowed Max to clinch his title. Had it happened with anyone but a driver in a Mercedes-powered Willliams, I’m sure that the tinfoil hat brigade would be out in full force armed with conspiracy theories, but now everyone has to concede that it was nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
Not quite the note on which Williams would have liked to end their season, although they will be pleased to have clinched 8th in the constructors’ championship after dangling at the bottom of the standings for 3 consecutive years. New fans are not always aware, but Constructors actually get awarded a certain amount of money depending on where they finish, money which can be used to pay bills or invest in development for the new car, something which is especially important to smaller teams like Williams. For them, the money coming with an 8th place in the Championship will feel like a victory!
Alfa Romeo
Kimi Räikkönen – Qualifying: 18th | Race: DNF
Antonio Giovinazzi – Qualifying 14th | Race: DNF
It’s hard for me to file Alfa Romeo away as losers, it’s no secret that Kimi is one of my all-time favourite drivers, and Antonio has charmed his way into my heart as well with his long flowy locks – but with a double DNF it’s hard to put them anywhere else but on the struggle bus.
Kimi retired with reported brake issues, his race ending on lap 29. This didn’t prevent him from being voted driver of the day however, as fans banded together to show the Iceman one last time just how much he’ll be missed. Gio came to a standstill on track on lap 37, this after being told “no shifting” over the radio, bringing out a VSC.
It’s a shame that their last race had to end on a low note, but it’s quite likely that with Kimi at least, the fans are more broken up about it than the Finn himself is. He seems to be looking forward to finally be left alone and enjoy more time with his family.
Antonio on the other hand, is adamant that this wasn’t the last time that we’ve seen him in an F1 car. So, to him we say “see you later” rather than “goodbye” and wish him all the best with his venture into Formula E with Dragon / Penske Autosport.
Dishonourable mention:
The first dishonourable mention of the day goes to the Race Director and the Stewards, because whilst I’m a massive fan of the sassy Masi hotline, I’m well aware that their verdicts over the entirety of the 2021 season have been inconsistent and confusing. I think that they would do well in getting together to ensure a more streamlined decision-making-process and a rewrite of the rulebook (or at the very least add some clarifications).
I’ve got a list as long as my arm of things which played out throughout the 2021 season, in particular situations in which I feel either Verstappen or Hamilton got hit by a loose-flying bullet from the Russian-roulette style of decision-making the stewards utilized. Having ventured out on F1Twitter (brave, I know!), I know that I’m most definitely not alone in this. Fans, experts and drivers all have voiced their displeasure with how things were dealt with.
How they dealt with the ending of the race on Sunday was surprising, but after reading the dismissal sent Mercedes’ way it wasn’t as fast and loose of a call as fans like to say it was, as it seems to have been backed by a multitude of their rules and regulations. I equally don’t think that the decision made needs to be overturned (Which might be due to my orange glasses, sorry!), but as mentioned; they’d do well in ensuring more clarity and consistency for future-decision-making… If only to allow the next World Champion to enjoy their victory straight after crossing the finish line, rather than having to wait for hours for the final verdict.
Whilst Lewis Hamilton has earned himself a place on the top of the list, I’m afraid that I’ve got to put Mercedes in my dishonourable mentions as well. Many of my friends, some of which are Mercedes or LH fans, have enquired about my thoughts on the whole ordeal. Which is why I feel justified in giving my unprofessional opinion. I’m not too fussed with the initial protests, as I think Red Bull would have done exactly the same had the roles been reversed – and whilst I don’t necessarily agree with the points Mercedes were trying to make, I do see where they are coming from.
What does grate me the wrong way, however, is the decision to lodge an appeal after their initial protests were dismissed. Sometimes races play out in a way which gives the hunter all the advantages over the hunted, meaning Lewis was put in an everything-to-lose position. It is painful, very painful to lose out on a Championship like that, but that doesn’t necessarily make it unfair in my opinion. Especially after reading the justifications from the Race Director and the Stewards in the dismissal.
The appeal feels very unsportsmanlike for a team which advocates for battles to be won on track and likes to pat themselves on the back for sportsmanlike behaviour – and in my opinion, they’re actually doing 7-times world champion Lewis Hamilton a disservice, as he’s the most prominent face of the team and unfortunately some (biased) fans will try and hold this against him and discredit his other achievements because of it.
With the 2021 season wrapped up, we will have to wait 96 days until the lights go out for the first time in the 2022 season. On Sunday the 20th of March 2022 (fingers crossed) we will find the F1 paddock in Bahrain once more.
There, we will get a proper first feel of the capabilities of the cars built under new regulations and Red Bull Racing will appear on the grid without being powered by Honda. Will this mean that Hamilton can clinch his 8th title? That Verstappen can follow his maiden title up with a second one? Or will we be seeing a completely new face at the top of the standings? We can only wait (impatiently) and see!
