Manipulation of the rules by race director Michael Masi leads to Max Verstappen victory which felt more bungled than buoyantIf there was one thing there appeared to be universal agreement on before Formula One’s season decider in Abu Dhabi, it was that no one wanted the result of an enthralling championship to be decided in the stewards’ room. Inevitably four hours after the flag fell, wrangling with the stewards continued. It may well yet go on for days or longer. Fans were left with a dissatisfying conclusion that was hard to understand, confusing in its methodology and that has triggered only acrimony and rancour. There were celebrations in Abu Dhabi but outside of the Red Bull garage it was far...
Dutchman was handed a title lifeline on the final lap and then Mercedes’ legal challenges came to nothingShortly after the most chaotic and enthralling finish to a Formula One title in the sport’s history, Max Verstappen stood on top of his Red Bull car, fists pumping and shaking as if a lightning bolt was surging through him, before making a flying dismount, Frankie Dettori style. Who could blame him? Somehow, against the odds, he had muscled past Lewis Hamilton during a dramatic final lap shootout in the last race of 2021. A first world title was secured. Yet this thriller of an F1 season still had one final vicious twist to come.While the Dutch driver was celebrating, Hamilton’s Mercedes’ team...
The controversial conclusion to the championship in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix came at the end of a season of squabblingAn enthralling duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the season-opener hints at the controversy and drama that lies ahead. Verstappen starts on pole at the Bahrain International Circuit and a gripping strategic fight ensues in which Hamilton and Mercedes take the lead. Later running fresher tyres, Red Bull’s man hits back to pass Hamilton on lap 53, but leaves the track in doing so, and is immediately obliged to give the place back. Hamilton nurses his older tyres home, clinging on to win what he calls a “great battle”. Continue reading...
Calmer Hamilton has had to respond to Dutchman’s aggressive style, with winner taking all in the world championshipNo one goes to a motor race hoping to see a crash, or so they used to say. It may be less true this weekend, when the promise of mayhem between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the final round of the 2021 Formula One world championship promises to attract a vast worldwide television audience.As they prepare for Sunday’s showdown, Verstappen hoping to become champion for the first time and Hamilton in line to surpass Michael Schumacher with a record eighth title, not just individual career landmarks rest on the outcome. It feels as though much more – perhaps nothing less than the...
The seven-time winner and his emerging challenger are two of the best gladiators F1 has ever seenI was racing in Formula One when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were vying for the title and when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill went wheel to wheel, but without doubt Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s battle this season has been the best I have ever seen. Their season-decider finale at Abu Dhabi will bring the curtain down on what has been an absolute epic.This championship has something extra exciting about it because you have two of the best gladiators that we have even seen going head-to-head and it has been unmissable. The way this championship has gone up and down, that’s what you...