Formula One world championships are won and lost over the course of a season – not a single race, never mind a single lap.
Yet it’s only fitting the crazy and chaotic 2021 season came down to the last lap in Sunday’s finale, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen edging Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes to the chequered flag to become the first Dutch F1 world champion.
It really shouldn’t have been a surprise as Verstappen and Hamilton battled head-to-head all season long and all around the globe as we saw in Britain, Italy, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, etc., and entered Abu Dhabi all square in points at the top of the standings.
When a safety car set the stage for a wild winner-take-all last lap between Verstappen and Hamilton, it was the final minute-and-30-ish seconds we deserved.
Verstappen, sporting a set of fresh, soft tires, passed Hamilton and his fading hard compounds when the race resumed and fended off a furious rally down the back straightaway. Before you could even process what had just happened, your winner and new world champion was crowned. (And it probably also shouldn’t be a surprise that Mercedes lodged two protests over the ending after the race.)
That’s racing.
Mercedes has filed a pair of protests — one for how aggressive Verstappen drove just before the restart and another regarding the restart process that shuffled a handful lapped cars and set up the side-by-side scenario — so even though the racing has ended, the season itself continues for now.
That extraordinary final lap of the 2021 title race in full #AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kknTMDfpAF
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021
Where it went right for Verstappen
Verstappen won last year’s Abu Dhabi GP leading every lap from pole position, however, this time he just needed to lead the one and only lap that mattered.
After losing P1 at the start, it seemed like it was going to be a what-if scenario for Verstappen having seen Hamilton, who erased a 19-point advantage over the course of the previous three events, cruise away.
Red Bull were the ones seeing, ahem, red at the start after Hamilton blasted past Verstappen and then took to the runoff area to maintain the lead. Although Red Bull believed Hamilton gained an unfair advantage, Mercedes said he only did so to avoid contact and the stewards did not intervene.
That forced Red Bull into having to make a bold strategy, and it paid off for them.
Red Bull’s decision to pit Verstappen for soft tires under the late safety car was smart but it was also done out of desperation as they had to do something — anything — to gain an advantage. Verstappen had nothing to lose and in the end, he didn’t.
The 24-year-old Verstappen picked up his 10th Grand Prix victory of the season and 20th of his career and gladly returned the record for most wins without a world championship to the late, great Sterling Moss.
WHAT A FINISH IN ABU DHABI!@Max33Verstappen takes the #AbuDhabiGP and becomes the first Dutch driver to be crowned @F1 World Champion!@redbullracing | #F1 pic.twitter.com/mvPxkluUm3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 12, 2021
Where it went wrong for Hamilton
It’s going to be a long winter offseason at the Mercedes head office.
Sure, the German manufacturer secured a record-extending eighth consecutive constructors’ championship, but they’ll be scrutinizing the decision to not bring in Hamilton for a second pit stop.
You can’t fault Hamilton, though, as he had already expressed concern about the durability of his hard-compound tires; it was a team decision.
Mercedes couldn’t follow suit with Red Bull and bring Hamilton in after the fact as they were guaranteed to lose track position to Verstappen and there was always a risk the race could have finished under caution without returning to green — and what a blunder it would have been to hand Verstappen the championship that way. Hindsight is 20/20, after all.
Hamilton did all he could by winning the previous three races consecutively to draw level with Verstappen on points heading into the finale. The British driver continues to sit atop the mountain with 103 Grand Prix victories but a record eighth world championship was just a lap away.
CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONS @MercedesAMGF1 claim their eight straight @F1 Constructors’ Championship! pic.twitter.com/HhLR3mhsBP
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 12, 2021
Can con
Toronto’s Nicholas Latifi factored into the world championship as it was the Williams driver who crashed to bring out the safety car, bunching up the field and eliminating the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen to set up the showdown.
Latifi ended his sophomore season 17th overall, highlighted with a seven-place finish in Hungary to score his first career points.
Meanwhile, Montreal’s Lance Stroll was just on the outside looking in at Abu Dhabi finishing P13 for Aston Martin. Unlucky 13th was also where Stroll finished overall in the standings. After a pole position and two podiums last season, things were supposed to be on the up-and-up for Stroll this year.
Looking ahead to 2022
Kick out the jams for musical chairs as seat shuffling begins for the 2022 season.
Everyone can leave Kimi Raikkonen alone now as the Alfa Romeo driver hangs up his racing shoes. The 2007 world champion finished his career in the pits, unfortunately, as a crash brought his race to an early end.
Valtteri Bottas makes the move over to Alfa Romeo, with Williams driver George Russell taking the Finnish driver’s spot at Mercedes.
Alfa Romeo will have a completely new lineup for 2022, with newcomer Guanyu Zhou set to replace Antonio Giovinazzi, who is off to Formula E.
Former Red Bull driver Alexander Albon jumps into Russell’s old place at Williams.
His final F1 race didn’t quite go to plan…
But that didn’t stop you voting Kimi as Driver of the Day in Abu Dhabi #AbuDhabiGP #KiitosKimi pic.twitter.com/6Qw7Cmhu44
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021
Victory Laps
• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez looked to be in line for a podium finish, however, he just didn’t have it in the end and Red Bull opted to retire the car. That clinched the constructors’ championship for Mercedes as the points difference was already too much that Verstappen alone couldn’t close the gap for Red Bull.
• Carlos Sainz finished third in Abu Dhabi to extend his remarkable points streak to 15. The podium was enough for the Spanish driver to leapfrog teammate Charles Leclerc and also finish fifth overall in the championship standings. Next goal for Sainz: Scoring his first victory.
• At one point it looked like Ferrari and McLaren would be neck-and-neck battling for third in the constructors’ standings. Sainz and Leclerc had a solid second half while McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo had a rocky road and Ferrari finished 48.5 points ahead of its longtime rival.
• Yuki Tsunoda saved the best for last in his rookie season, finishing a career-high fourth with AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly right behind him in P5. AlphaTauri was looking for a best-ever finish of fifth in the constructor’s standings and was tied with Alpine at one point, but couldn’t keep pace on a weekly basis with the Renault team down the final stretch of the season.
• Is it March yet? The 2022 season can’t come soon enough.
