Wednesday, December 1st, 2021
Exclusive poll for the F1 final
German fans want new world champions
The longest Formula 1 season in history is entering the home straight – and the outcome is completely open. At the top it’s more exciting than it has been for many years. The tension becomes clear in a representative survey. And also that the German fans have a clear favorite.
20 races have been driven, two are still pending – by then at the latest, the Formula 1 world champion of 2022 will be determined. There is already a mammoth program behind the pilots, there have never been as many races as this season in the long history of the premier class. And it’s a fight like it hasn’t been for a long time. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is eight points ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Both fight hard on the track, their bosses abuse each other in the supporting program. “At the moment it is at the limit, but fair. That is good for Formula 1,” said four-time world champion Alain Prost of “Sport Bild”. “One thing is clear: one of them will be a great and worthy world champion at the end of the season. It doesn’t matter who it is at the end.”
German racing fans are also divided on who will do it in the end: According to a Forsa survey commissioned by RTL Germany *, 36 percent believe that Mercedes star Hamilton will still collect the small deficit and thus make himself the sole record world champion ahead of Michael Schumacher . 56 percent expect the Dutchman, Verstappen, to be able to save his small lead over the finish line. Only eight percent did not want to present a favorite.
Meanwhile, the trend speaks a clear language: With two spectacular victories most recently in Brazil and Qatar, Hamilton had started a race to catch up on Verstappen, who had already lost 24 points. And if what Mercedes sports director Toto Wolff threatened happens, the premiere race in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (from 5.15 p.m. live on RTL) will be a spectacular semi-final.
“We are on the hunt, more motivated than ever and we are looking forward to our racing debut in Saudi Arabia,” emphasized Wolff before the premiere at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which, with its long full-throttle passages and fast corners, should be Mercedes. “Now the right grenade is coming back in for Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. We have saved this fire for the last two races.” In the previous Grand Prix in Brazil, the Englishman had shone with a fresh unit, but then in Qatar the engine was not used and saved.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is stressedly relaxed: “I feel calm. I know that I will always try to do my best,” said the World Cup leader, who could become world champion for the first time in his career at the weekend. “It will be an exciting end to the season.” If Verstappen wins in Saudi Arabia and Lewis Hamilton does not get past seventh place, the 23-year-old takes the title. Given the dominance of the two top drivers and the reliability of their cars, this is a rather unlikely scenario.
But German racing fans would like it if it came that way. Because 80 percent of those interested in Formula 1 polled by Forsa on behalf of RTL / ntv want Verstappen to win the title, only 17 percent want Hamilton to cheer for the eighth world title in a row. Of all those surveyed, 39 percent grant Verstappen the title more than Hamilton, who only 8 percent would like to see the world title again. Either way: Formula 1, in which Mercedes has dominated at will for years and recently made the world champion seven times in a row, is about to get off to an exciting final spurt.
* The survey took place from November 24th to 25th, 2021 as part of the RTL / ntv trend barometer