Nerves, Tears and Joy
A "Title Decider" day in the life of a F1 fan
It was Season Finale day on Sunday, December 12, 2021. The last day of the year is always an emotional one with some drivers moving teams, others leaving the sport for good and a general feeling of spending the next 100 odd days without any Formula One action. But this time, the tensions were heightened. There was a World Championship to play for after all. With Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton going in level on points, the stage was set for a battle of epic proportions. In this post, I am going to take you through the entire event, pre-race, post-race and the race itself, from my eyes. Who am I, you may ask? I am an avid Formula One fan whose sole purpose for the past 9 years has been to watch cars, driven by the best drivers in the world, go around tracks, trying to win the ultimate prize in motorsport.
Now, before I start, I would like to say that I am a Max Verstappen fan and since this is a view of the race from my eyes, some partiality might creep in but I would request you to excuse me for this and read on. I would love to know your views in the comments down below. With that out of the way, let's begin.
The excitement was building from the end of qualifying on Saturday and I was looking forward to the race. I had mixed feelings about the starting grid. While I was happy that Max was on pole, I was a little disappointed as he was starting on the soft tyres compared to Lewis' mediums which would give Mercedes the strategic upper hand. But I also knew that Max would have the chance to pull away at the start.
The stage was set for a brilliant season finale. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
On Sunday, I had to keep the thoughts of the race out of my mind for most of the day since I had to study for my college semester exams. But with the clock ticking towards lights out, it was much harder to focus on my books and my mind kept wandering towards the big event later in the day. Finally, I turned on the TV with half an hour to go. Since coverage hadn't started yet, I watched the pre-race build-up that F1 had streamed on YouTube. Hearing the drivers' thoughts, raised my excitement to levels which it hadn't reached in quite some time.
When coverage finally started, ten minutes before the race started, I could no longer wait for the race to start. But I still had to endure the pre-race build-up and the grid rundown. I could barely remain seated. As the cars started the Formation Lap, I stood up as I had too much energy in me. As the last car of Mick Schumacher pulled into its grid slot, it was finally time to start.
As the lights went out, Lewis Hamilton charged out of the blocks and took the lead into Turn 1. Immediately, all the energy just left me and I was left wondering what just happened. I didn't need to wait too long for the next piece of action as just 5 corners later, Max went for a lunge into the chicane. Lewis left the door completely open and Max tried to pass. He went deep, stayed within the white lines of the track but forced Lewis wide. This was the first controversial moment of the race. Instead of rejoining and giving the place back like Max had had to in Jeddah, a week back, Lewis cut the chicane and continued on.
The Turn 6 Incident. Photo: Simon Galloway / LAT Images
The inconsistency of the stewards came to light once again as they deemed no investigation necessary since Hamilton had supposedly returned all advantage gained. This left many, including me furious especially after the mess that was created just a week back in Jeddah when Max had to give the place back. It was hard to see how the advantage had been returned when they were side-by-side into the chicane and Lewis came out nearly 2 seconds ahead. But we continued on.
After this, Hamilton just kept increasing his lead as Max struggled to keep up the pace in the turbulent wake of the Mercedes. At this point, the race turned a bit processional with Lewis leading the two Red Bulls and no more action going on down the pack. On lap 13, with the gap at around 5 seconds, Max pitted and took a set of new hard tyres. Because of the large gap, Mercedes were able to pit Lewis a lap later and keep him comfortably ahead. While Hamilton came out in clear air in 2nd, Verstappen came out in 5th behind Carlos Sainz's Ferrari and Lando Norris's Mclaren. As Max dealt with the two slower cars, Hamilton extended the gap. With every lap, hopelessness grew, and I started to accept that Hamilton will win easily. I had hoped that after such a huge build-up, the race wouldn't be anti-climatic with one driver strolling to a win but that was what was happening here. Hamilton was just in another league and I could just marvel at his brilliance at that moment.
However, on his faster tyres, he ran into a roadblock pretty soon. Red Bull had left Sergio Perez out in the hope of holding up Hamilton. And that is exactly what he did. For a lap and a half, he made that RB15, the widest car on track and even though Hamilton passed him, he dove down the inside and reclaimed the position. He did such a good job that the gap between the title contenders was down to just under a second after it had increased to about 8 or 9 seconds just the lap before.
Sergio Perez holds up Lewis Hamilton. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Once through, though, Hamilton got back to increasing the gap, putting in faster lap times and it seemed that Perez's hard work had gone to waste. But it was all about to change in a few laps. During all the action out front, it was sad to see Kimi Raikkonen have to retire from his final F1 race with brake problems. The Finn has been one of the most entertaining drivers on the grid for a few years now and it was a bit difficult to see his last race end in tears. A few laps later, his Alfa Romeo teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi pulled over and parked his car in what was his final race in the sport for the foreseeable future as the Italian heads to Formula E.
The two Alfa Romeo drivers had their last race in F1. Photo: XPB Images
After what seemed like quite a bit of time in which multiple cars went past the stricken Alfa, Michael Masi, the Race Director, decided to put out the Virtual Safety Car. With the cars restricted to a delta time, Red Bull pitted Max for a fresh set of medium tyres in the hope that he could pull off a feat similar to the French Grand Prix earlier in the year where he would pull off banzai qualifying laps to catch back up and pass Hamilton. At this point, Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff asked Michael Masi to not bring out the full Safety Car. It was unbelievable to see that he wanted to risk the safety of the drivers and marshalls in a bid to win the race. While the safety car wasn't needed, the VSC ended with a 14 second gap between the top 2 with 20 laps to go. Even though Max had a mountain to climb, I was filled with a final glimmer of hope for the Dutchman.
This too, like Red Bull's other tactics didn't work as Max got stuck behind a train of five cars he had to lap and the gap remained constant. It was heartbreaking to see that after a season of close battles, the championship was going to be decided by 4 dominating performances by Lewis with Max having no answer to the pace of the Mercedes W12. Now it was all pretty much over. 5 laps to go, and Max nowhere near Lewis, the title was all but gone. Hamilton was in prime position for a record-breaking 8th World Championship. But then, as is custom to the 2021 season, the race got completely flipped on its head.
On lap 53, the cameras suddenly turned to a wrecked Williams on the exit of Turn 14. Replays showed that he had been battling Mick Schumacher down the back-straight and had been pushed wide on the exit on Turn 9. He had dust on his tyres and so lost the rear through 14 and spun into the wall. It was a certain Safety Car. Hamilton could not pit as he would lose track position to Max with the restart doubtful. But Red Bull rolled the dice and put Max on a set of Soft tyres. This pumped life back into the race.
Nicholas Latifi crashes at Turn 14. Photo: https://en.brinkwire.com/entertainment/as-christian-horner-thanks-nicholas-latifi-max-verstappens-fix-calls-continue/
As my hopes and spirits rose, they were quickly doused again. The pitstop had meant that there were 5 lapped cars between Lewis and Max. Race Control announced that lapped cars won't be allowed to pass the leader. With three laps to go, Red Bull Team Principal radioed Michael Masi to ask as to why this was done. on lap 57 of 58, Race Control put out a notification that the 5 lapped cars between the leaders would be allowed to pass and the Safety Car would be coming in on the same lap. Now, there was going to be a last-lap shootout for the championship. I was back on the edge of my seat.
As Lewis backed the pack in sector 3, Max pulled alongside him so that he didn't get caught out on the restart. Lewis went and Max followed. They were nose-to-tail through the first sector. I held my breath as they approached the first hairpin. Max went for the divebomb. He was ahead now. I leapt from my seat and started jumping with joy. But it was not over, Max had to defend down two long straights before he had it in the bag. As they reached turn 9, time seemed to move in slow motion. Lewis pulled out from Max's slipstream. They nearly touched. But Max held the inside line and kept ahead. I burst into applause and started shouting with joy.
Max Verstappen passes Lewis Hamilton on the final lap. Photo: Formula 1
As Max crossed the line, I could not contain my happiness. The stress and anxiety of this Titanic, season-long battle was finally lifted and the man I was backing came out on top. Hearing Max and Red Bull celebrating over the radio was really heart-warming. The Red Bull crew was going wild, while Lewis and Mercedes were shell-shocked. As Max pulled into parc-ferme, his mechanics lifted him in the air. I really wished I was there, part of the celebrations. But it wasn't done yet.
As Max was being embraced by Christian Horner, it came out that there might have been an abuse of rules of the start procedure and my heart sunk again. But it was quickly forgotten for the moment as Lewis got out of the car. You had to feel for him. He had done everything right in the last four races. He had led this one for all but the last lap. But a random stroke of luck, a single moment of racing madness took the title from him. There were wholesome scenes as both the title contenders had their fathers by their side, talking to them, congratulating and consoling them.
There was a surprise too. In the chaos after the Safety Car, Sergio Perez retired with a mechanical fault and somehow Carlos Sainz finished 3rd. It was great to see him up there. A great reward for a wonderful debut season with Ferrari.
Max Verstappen celebrates his win with his mechanics. Photo: XPB Images
In the post-race interviews, Max said that finally, some luck had come his way. And he was correct. Most of the decisions in recent races went against him and Hamilton seemed to have luck in his camp. A teary-eyed Lewis congratulated Max and said that he was determined to come back stronger next year. The podium celebrations followed and Max and Red Bull were in party mode. But he wasn't World Champion just yet.
Lewis Hamilton congratulates Max Verstappen after the race. Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
About an hour after the chequered flag fell on the 2021 season, Mercedes extended it by putting in 2 protests for the Safety Car proceedings. The first was about Max overtaking Lewis before the restart when he pulled alongside him and the second was for not allowing all lapped cars to go through along with other breaches of the restart procedure. I felt extremely upset because even though Mercedes were acting as sore losers, they had a strong case and I wasn't too optimistic about the situation especially since the Silver Arrows had flown in a barrister to fight their case.
Then there was a long wait as the stewards heard both sides' arguments. I was constantly looking at Twitter and other news outlets, waiting for any updates. The teams left the stewards' office but that was not it. They were to reconvene in half an hour. The wait was agonizing and annoying. As the teams came out again, news broke that the first protest was rejected as Max was barely ahead and immediately went back. Now for the all-important announcement.
Mercedes wanted the result to be reinstated to lap 57 through which, Lewis would have won. This would have been extremely unfair on Max because he would be penalised for something that wasn't his fault. After another short break, both teams were called back to be told the result of the hearing. Then, about 5 hours after the race ended, at 12:40 a.m. at my place, Christian Horner told the press that the second protest had also been rejected and Max has been confirmed as World Champion. I was extremely relieved and no longer anxious. The decision was made and, at least for the moment, no one can take the title away from Max.
Max Verstappen is the 2021 World Champion. Photo: Honda
It had been a long day and having experienced a complete spectrum of emotions, I was completely exhausted. I finally went to bed, happy to have witnessed the greatest Formula One season ever. I was delighted for Max and a little sad for Lewis. Ultimately, this is sport and anything can happen. I can't wait for it all to start all over again in 96 days but before that, I think we all need a break from the action.
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Comments (7)
T6 on lap 1 was just karma. Max left absolutely 0 space for Hamilton with his abnormal racing line if you check out the video, so Lewis balanced things out with the corner cut. As for the title deciding safety car, if as many rules as possible were applied, unfortunately, the race would have had to have finished under the safety car to allow backmarkers to reach the back of the pack. It wouldn't have been the best way to end the season, but would reward a superb drive and end to the season from Lewis and rightfully hand him the championship. It sounds like a more morally correct thing to do than to make up rules on the fly and eliminate rules because they don't suit what you want to happen.
That is correct. The track was clear and Christian Horner asked Michael Masi about lapped cars with 3 laps left. They could easily have let them through on that lap and called the safety car in on lap 57. That would have been much less...
Read moreAlso correct, I would personally have been much more accepting of the victory is that was what happened. Even so, the fact that the cars in front of Carlos weren't let through is strange. It's unlikely, but Carlos could've forced Max to...
Read moreIt was the first F1 season that I actually followed. I really enjoyed it, but also hope that it gets better from now. Everybody says that it has been one of the best seasons ever, but I'm sure it can be even better in the future, right?
Welcome to F1:) While it was the best season I have witnessed, it can definitely get better. The Stewards' decisions were far too inconsistent and I feel that they hampered the show throughout the year. A little more consistency and an...
Read moreI totally agree! Hope the performance gap between the cars gets smaller as well, so we can have more competition all around.