F1
Max Verstappen wins the world title on the last lap!
Max Verstappen won his first world title at Yas Marina (Photo DPPI)
Tied on points (369,5 units each) before this final race of the season, Max Verstappen et Lewis Hamilton found themselves on the front row of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The two rivals were nevertheless on a different tire strategy since the pole-sitter had extricated himself from Q2 on soft tyres, his pursuer qualifying on a medium set. When the lights went out, the Briton got the better of his rival, but the latter decided to regain his lead when braking for turn 6. In a scene seen and reviewed this season, the driver Red Bull took her Mercedes outside the track. Hamilton bypassed the chicane and emerged in the lead. Despite calls from Max Verstappen and his team on the radio, the race stewards did not consider it necessary to open an investigation. " It's incredible ", the championship leader couldn't believe it. At the head of the race, the seven-time world champion found himself more than ever numerically inferior against the Austrian single-seaters. Sergio Pérez had in fact gotten rid of Lando Norris (McLaren) at the start for third place while Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) got stuck in the peloton in eighth place, behind Yuki tsunoda (Alpha Tauri). The Englishman, on his medium tires, put together the best laps in the first fifteen loops, quickly increasing his margin to five seconds over his opponent. Logically, the Batavian, in difficulty on his soft tires, was the first duellist to rush into the pit lane on the fourteenth lap. Max Verstappen came out hard in fifth position, behind Norris who quickly faded away. Lewis Hamilton covered the strategy and left Pérez in charge. The only driver ahead of the Mercedes, what role would the Mexican play in the fight for the world title?
Pérez's heroic defense
Max Verstappen returned to the podium on the eighteenth lap by overtaking Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), but Lewis Hamilton came back at full speed on Sergio Pérez with his new set of hard tires. The two-time Grand Prix winner offered a heroic defense on his dying tires to hold off the Briton for a full lap, offering a final DRS to his teammate who returned to the slipstream during this battle. “Checo is a legend”, greeted the Dutchman on his radio. At the back of the peloton, Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) ended his career with a retirement due to a brake problem. George Russell (Williams) was also forced to retire to his box after a problem with his gearbox. These premature ends of the race had no consequence on the lead of the race where Lewis Hamilton regained the margin on his rival when meeting the first latecomers. The last ones at Alfa Romeo were decidedly gloomy with the retirement of Antonio Giovinazzi, immobilized at the side of the track. A Virtual Safety Car was announced to evacuate the car Swiss. The two Red Bulls took the opportunity to put on new white tires for the last twenty laps, with Hamilton remaining on the track. Max Verstappen set the fastest lap for the first time since the opening green flag of this race.
The Safety Car changes everything
With fifteen laps to go, Lewis Hamilton was a virtual eight-time world champion. The suspense still remained as the race pace was now in favor of the Dutchman. The championship leader nevertheless had to gain more than a second per lap to hope to win his first coronation. Despite the latecomers in the middle of the table, the leader of the race managed to stem the rise of his opponent. With around forty laps on his tires and a puncture for Norris, the specter of a similar problem hung over the Englishman. Nicholas latifi (Williams) was ultimately the disruptive element at the end of the championship by triggering a Safety Car five laps from the goal. Hamilton once again remained on the track. At Red Bull, Max Verstappen went all out on soft tires! Third, Pérez retired at the request of his team. The race was restarted for a final explosive lap after an imbroglio around the latecomers. On fresh tires, Max Verstappen got rid of his opponent to win his first world title on the last lap! Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) inherited the last place on the podium ahead of the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly.
Valentin GLO
Journalist. Endurance reporter (WEC, IMSA, ELMS, ALMS) and sometimes F1 or IndyCar.
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DANIEL MEYERS
13/12/2021 at 11:29 a.m.
LH on arrival was very sporty towards Max, what a Mr.! even if he also knows very well how to be a 'killer'. Since then, it has been complete radio silence! Who is to blame for this defeat? MERCEDES who by his management of the LH race put him in the dead position at the start of the last lap. As for the race, we start with an inexplicable laxity in favor of LH on the first lap, to end with the charade of the safety car. On this point Mercedes is right not to let it go, what will come out of this? NOTHING ! The calendar limit of their appeal being the same as that of the official award date of the title!! Nevertheless, and this would be a minimum, there MUST be a huge questioning of the management of F1 arbitration (Replacement of Massi, sworn commissioners and always the same) at the risk of completely shattering the formidable current dynamics of F1. This affair brings together all the elements to precipitate the early withdrawal of Mercedes and LH. It's not because LM and Netflix are rubbing their hands that once again nothing should move. Unlike previous years I probably wouldn't watch the 'docu.' Netflix, I know the pathetic ending.
ALAIN DUMONTIER
12/12/2021 at 04:36 a.m.
The FIA would do well to make its revolution and change its regulations: see a driver lead 98% of the Grand Prix with more than 10 seconds on the second and see this advantage go up in smoke because a joker (Latifi) crashes : where is the sport?
ALEXIS DE ROUGE
13/12/2021 at 09:35 a.m.
It's called sport... It's still more interesting than procession races with Mercedes which lap 2 seconds faster than all the others, regardless of the driver... Verstappen didn't have the best car, but he had the best driving and the best team! It really is sport!
ALAIN DUMONTIER
13/12/2021 at 05:21 a.m.
Hello, I respect your point of view but for me it is not sport but Russian roulette. This reminds me of Nelson Piquet Jr's accident in 2008 which also distorted the result of the Malaysian GP. Having followed F1 for some time (since the end of 1968) I congratulate the FIA for all the efforts made to preserve the lives of the drivers, the commissioners... (I will spare you the long list of drivers that I saw disappear with sorrow, with a special thought for the most recent Jules Bianchi and Anthoine Hubert). But the current procedures, with the aim of preserving the lives of those involved in F1 (and that is a good thing), tend to call into question the results of the Grand Prix: this is what I would like to see the FIA evolve. As for thinking that Red Bull was inferior to Mercedes this year, I'm not convinced. But I agree to denounce the Mercedes monopoly (with all the means at their disposal). But I would have liked it to happen in other conditions;