There have been many defining moments of the 2021 season, however the most decisive came at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Is Formula 1 a sporting contest or an entertainment show? After watching what was a crazy Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it’s a question that I’m not sure I know the answer to. How the outcome transpired is now a polarising debate of dispute that taints the result. It ended in controversial circumstances, with Max Verstappen as champion, and Lewis Hamilton hard done by.
I was half-right about my predictions that I made after pre-season testing. Mercedes won the Constructors title for an eighth consecutive time, an incredible achievement that shows they are the best team in the sport. But I was wrong about Drivers’ title, although when I come to think of it, I’m not so sure I would be had the sporting regulations been followed correctly.
Such has been the contentious nature of the 2021 season between challengers Mercedes and Red Bull, and contenders Hamilton and Verstappen, perhaps it was inevitable that the outcome would not be so straightforward. At the centre of this fuck up is the FIA who broke their own rules, when race director Michael Masi in my view went rogue and meddled with the safety car protocols.
It's no secret that I am a Lewis Hamilton fan. For what are personal reasons, I identify with him in many ways. So I was obviously angry and disappointed with how the title was decided. But as much as I am indifferent towards Verstappen and Red Bull, the sense of injustice and unfairness about how the situation was dealt with by the FIA has no association with them at all. They were winners of a scenario that should not have happened had the rules been implemented fully.
"I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I still can't believe what happened"
With Mercedes fearing controversy having a hand in how the titles were decided, the team brought sports barrister Paul Harris out to the race in case he needed to be called into action. It was a move that proved to be correct. Mercedes launched not one, but two protests, one for Verstappen overtaking under the safety car and the other for the race classification, as not all cars un-lapped themselves. Both were rejected by the stewards. Although Mercedes lodged an intention to appeal, they withdrew it. That is frustrating, but understandable why.
The incident itself that became the catalyst for the chaos was when Nicolas Latifi crashed his Williams with just five laps to go. It meant a safety car period, which Verstappen pitted under for new soft tyres. Hamilton stayed out to maintain track position, had he have pitted, Verstappen may well have stayed out and taken the race lead himself. The variables were against Hamilton and Mercedes, with far too much risk and unknown if they did the contrary.
With such a small number of laps left, had the rules under the safety car been followed to the book, the race would have ended differently. But they weren’t, and it wasn’t clear what the safety car procedure was at the end of the race with just one lap left. Masi initially said lapped cars can’t overtake, Red Bull objected and complained. Masi then decided that the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen could unlap themselves.
That change of mind is inconsistent and not good for the integrity and credibility of the sporting regulations, but it gets worse. There were three other lapped cars that weren’t allowed to overtake, Mercedes objected and complained. But Masi ignored their legitimate protest. That dismissal is inconsistent and not a correct application of the rule to allow all cars to unlap themselves under a safety car. It meant that with one lap to go; Verstappen was right behind Hamilton, whose hard tyres had been on since lap 15.
Of course, the inevitable happened. Hamilton initially bolted on the penultimate lap, trying to drop Verstappen as fast as he could. But the reality is that it was always going to be an inequitable fight, they were fighting with different weapons. Hamilton made it to turn five when Verstappen lunged down the inside, and the lead was lost. Yet proving why he’s the best driver, Hamilton attacked down both straights, doing remarkably well to get alongside Verstappen down the second despite the inferior tyres he was racing on.
But the difference in tyre performance was too big, and he couldn’t overtake. And if Hamilton couldn’t get past, then no driver could have. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I still can't believe what happened. How the FIA had influenced the race in such a way meant it had ceased to be a sporting contest of high-performance, and it had become an entertainment show for excitement.
This entire episode is a shambles on a scale of scarcely conceivable proportions. For a start, you can’t have team principles lobbying for advantages, and then for the race director to favour one team over another, it’s like a lottery with teams not being treated on equal terms. It’s an approach that manufactures injustice. Furthermore, the sporting regulations state that under Article 48.12 "once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap."
This protocol wasn’t followed either. Not only were the five lapped cars allowed to overtake and unlap themselves and not the three others, but the safety car then pitted on that same lap as well. The message from race control shouldn’t have been sent out, as it was only a partial application of Article 48.12. The rules only work in the premise that they are implemented fully. And while the race director has overriding authority under Article 15.3, he must do so in accordance with the rules.
"The catalogue of errors that happened is farcical. Race control can’t cherry pick what rules you do or don’t or partly apply"
The catalogue of errors that happened is farcical. Masi can’t cherry pick what rules you do or don’t or partly apply. That is not professional, that is amateur. If the race director role is overworked, then changes need to be implemented to share the workload. How the title decider in Abu Dhabi came to a messy end indicates that, not for the first time this season, race control struggled to manage a crazy Grand Prix with complex incidents which had decisive consequences. Most if not all of this responsibility must be owned by Masi himself.
Whether he accepts it or not, the 2021 Drivers’ title wasn’t decided on the track, it was decided by him with the unprecedented decisions that he made. For the FIA to govern the sport in such a fast and loose fashion is a bad reflection on the standards that are expected. I have seen an explanation from a lawyer’s perspective why Mercedes had a strong case for appeal. In short, the FIA would have been dismantled.
Mercedes withdrew the appeal for a few reasons. One is that the FIA has supreme control over sporting situations in F1, so external legal action is not possible. In practice, it would have meant an FIA appointed panel ruling on the verdict of FIA stewards that stood by an FIA race director. The other is that F1 doesn't have statutes in place to change the race result after an event has taken place. This process needs to be changed with an independant and objective arbitrator, otherwise it's tantamount to the FIA marking their own homework.
Mercedes had the moral case, but were constrained by FIA frameworks to make it legal reality. Decisions outside the scope of rules cannot go unchallenged. Otherwise, what are rules for? The reputation of the sport has been badly damaged with the FIA artificially creating a spectacle for entertainment purposes, which has made a mockery of the sporting contest it’s meant to be. It's a situation that has exposed structual shortcomings with the FIA.
In response to the backlash from Mercedes and fans, a probe will be conducted into the running of the race. This is about scrutiny, and holding the FIA accountable. This process should send a strong message to the FIA and teams in the paddock – that rules can't simply be bent into shape to orchestrate an outcome. With Mercedes withdrawing the appeal, the FIA avoid further damage and humiliation. But Mercedes aren't letting them get away with it. They intend to put pressure on the review process to make the sport better, and ensure it doesn't happen again.
But let’s put this in a different context. Say it was the other way around, with Hamilton winning, and Verstappen losing. Do you not think the Dutchman and Red Bull wouldn’t be throwing their toys out of the pram? They have already demonstrated throughout the 2021 season that they were prepared to do almost anything to beat Hamilton. Let’s not be naïve about this, they would be exploring every option to overturn the result in the exact same situation.
The decision to have a last lap sprint to the finish after the safety car is even harder to fathom considering the circumstances. A fairer way would have been to red flag the race, returned to the pits, had a free change of fresh tyres while the incident was cleared, and then had a standing restart and a sprint to the chequered flag. Therefore, both Hamilton and Verstappen would have been racing on equal terms with no disparity between either.
All of this overlooks how well Hamilton performed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he dominated the race. He was the best driver in the best car and was going to win the Grand Prix. But then he had the victory and the 2021 Drivers’ title taken away in my view via corrupt decision-making. Verstappen didn’t deserve to win the race; he didn’t earn the race win; he was gifted it by the FIA. The pinnacle of motorsport is supposed to be a meritocracy, but that principal didn’t prevail in the race.
"the 2021 Drivers’ title could go down as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice not just in F1, but in all sporting history"
Why this philosophy evaporated into thin air is quite obvious. The hysteria whipped up between Hamilton and Verstappen meant that the sporting contest no longer took precedence, the entertainment show mattered more. That’s not right, it was wrong. You don’t partially implement rules to artificially create a spectacle. If you want entertainment, watch Drive to Survive on Netflix. If you want a sporting contest, watch the F1 race events. The two shouldn't overlap.
Given how everything transpired, Hamilton reacted remarkably graciously, some might say too graciously given the injustice and unfairness of the result. I respect his response tremendously; it illustrates just what a role model he is. And his performances this year have showcased his extraordinary talent, work ethic and mental fortitude. He is the best, the greatest driver there has ever been. There is no other driver that has ever been on his level. Of course on reflection, there are always aspects of the season to better and improve, as perfection is always a moving target.
I do wonder what Hamilton really thinks about the outcome of the 2021 season. It’s hard to know for sure, but a radio message on the last lap of the race is telling "This has been manipulated, man." When you take into account the shocking decision-making, it’s utterly irrefutable. The devastation and heartbreak he must feel. It highlights just how the 2021 Drivers’ title could go down as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice not just in F1, but in all sporting history. And I think people realise it, even if they don't want to accept or admit it.
Photos: LAT Images, Steve Etherington, Wolfgang Wilhelm
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