Sunday December 12th 2021
F1 decision in the last lap
Safety car madness makes Verstappen the world champion
For a long time at the season finale it looks like Lewis Hamilton will still become Formula 1 world champion. But then there is a safety car phase shortly before the end of the race – Max Verstappen uses this to change tires. And this advantage brings him past Hamilton in the last few meters.
The irrepressible cheers from Max Verstappen drowned out the cracking fireworks over the evening sky of Abu Dhabi. The 24-year-old Dutchman secured the title for the first time in his career in a nerve-wracking final, which once again crowned an incredible season with the decision on the very last lap. “It’s unbelievable, I fought the whole race. It’s crazy,” stammered Verstappen after his tenth win of the season and looked for words. “I was lucky.” Moved and overjoyed, father Jos took the new champion in his arms and fought back tears at the award ceremony. Team boss Christian Horner made a declaration of love to Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton, tragically beaten by a completely insane course of the race, remained motionless in his Mercedes before he congratulated his rival fairly. “Speechless, Lewis, just speechless,” radioed his race engineer Pete Bonnington. In the pit, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was beside himself – until a few laps before the end, Hamilton was clearly on course for the title. After a safety car phase and with fresh tires, Verstappen caught Hamilton on the last lap in a heartbeat final and thwarted the Briton’s eighth World Cup triumph. Carlos Sainz came third in a Ferrari. “First of all, congratulations to Max and his team. They did a great job,” said Hamilton, praising the 34th world champion in the history of the premier class. Mercedes secured the constructors’ championship for the eighth time in a row.
“In 20 years people will remember this World Cup”
It was a year of borderline experience. Formula 1 steered through the next Corona season – and in Verstappen against Hamilton it found the most breathless title duel in years. In the 259 days since the start of the season in Bahrain, the exceptional drivers fought hard on the tarmac – including on the Yas Marina Circuit. Poison was sprayed between the Dutch premature tire, the youngest Grand Prix winner in Spain in 2016 at the age of 18 and 228 days, and the Formula 1 flagship from England.
Silverstone, Monza, Jeddah – there was also a crash between Verstappen and Hamilton. Before the final, there was a high risk of escalation: Will Verstappen crash his way to the first title? The starting point was clear: If both drivers fail with the same points, the Red Bull man would be world champion for the first time due to the higher number of victories this season. “In 10 or 20 years, people will look back at this World Cup and remember it – me too,” said Verstappen of the duel. For the first time since 1974, two drivers raced tied for the final. Verstappen even increased the tension level with his fable pole on Saturday, Hamilton lurked directly behind it.
Then this start of the British! Hamilton literally shot away, Verstappen only rolled slowly – a tenth of a second in the reaction time was decisive after the red lights went out. On the first lap at turn six, the Dutchman attacked at the limit, braked extremely late and left his rival no place. The Englishman had to leave the course. First, Verstappen complained that Hamilton had left the track. Then Hamilton complained that Verstappen had pushed him out.
Both thought it was “unbelievable!”
“That’s unbelievable”, Verstappen grumbled. He did not feel that he was complicit and took refuge in the role of victim. After a brake flat in qualifying, Verstappen started the race with the softest tire compound. Although this is faster, it also degrades faster. Hamilton had the more durable medium on the Mercedes. Verstappen knew: now everything speaks against him. “We are all a bit shocked,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner indignantly to the decision of the race management not to investigate the fast crash.
The many orange fans in the stands got quieter and quieter. Because after the botched start of your PS star, the tires also dropped – not surprisingly. On lap 14, Verstappen was the first to change rubbers and switched to the hardest compound. Mercedes responded one lap later. A safety pit stop – just not giving the opponent any possible tactical advantage. Hamilton now had Perez’s escort in front of him. For almost two laps, the Mexican held up hard against it, costing the Mercedes man around six seconds before he took the lead again. “Checo is a legend,” praised Verstappen over the radio. Now the Dutchman was only a second behind Hamilton, who was then able to pull away again.
Then a virtual safety car. Red Bull took a risk. Verstappen got a new medium in lap 37 – but Hamilton stayed outside. His lead was only 17 seconds. And this one melted! But not too quickly. In lap 53 of 58 now the safety car phase. Verstappen got the fastest rubbers – Hamilton was not brought in again. “That’s unbelievable, folks,” grumbled the Briton, whose voice was no longer as firm and relaxed as usual over the last few kilometers. After the race was approved, Verstappen then sat in front of Hamilton in an incredible duel. The command posts raged – with joy and horror. Verstappen was beside himself.