ÜThe Formula 1 World Championship 2021 led over 259 days, over 22 races, over around 1300 laps, over 6409 kilometers. The decision was made on the last three thousand meters on the night of Abu Dhabi, which reflected everything that the entire season had to offer had: brilliant maneuvers by the drivers, mishaps, tactical errors, allegations, wheel-to-wheel duels, controversial decisions by the referees and twists and turns that were both surprising and heartbreaking.
The man who looked like the loser from the first to the last lap roared his joy at the finish into the world. “Yes, yes, yes,” said Max Verstappen after winning his first world title on the radio: “That’s crazy, I don’t know,” said the new champion seconds after his victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in front of Mercedes- Star Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, “what should I say. That’s incredible. I was a little lucky. It’s a miracle.”
Seconds after jumping out of the Red Bull, drunk with joy, the Dutchman knelt in front of the rear wheel of his racing car, while the series champion sat in his cockpit in the parc fermé, sunk as heavy as lead with his deep disappointment. But Hamilton insisted on quickly paying the rival the necessary honor, first with his hand, then with the word: “Congratulations to Max. That was one of the most difficult seasons,” said Hamilton calmly and sadly about a dream trip in the past Weeks that came to an end on the home straight if Mercedes’ objection to the ranking was unsuccessful: “We never gave up.” The almost 37-year-old Briton looked like the winner right into the last lap, the eighth World Cup -Title tangible, the rise to world record holder in front of Michael Schumacher (7) in this category too. How could this happen?
Too slow at first, then too fast. Verstappen had to pull it off from pole position. But the instinct on the clutch for departure came too late: it took Hamilton 0.25 seconds to get going after the start lights went out. The Dutchman needed 0.35. With the wheels spinning harder, he lost his lead and the lead, immediately switched to attack mode and did what he likes to do under pressure: brake too late, this time before the seventh corner.
He shot past the Silver Arrow in front of the apex, drifted with too much speed onto the outside lane of Hamilton. He turned away, avoiding a collision, chose the short paved emergency exit back to the track and came back onto the track before his rival. The wires were already glowing. Red Bull radioed the race director, no longer understood the world, and asked for a place to be swapped. But the boss in the control tower, Michael Masi, was not impressed: His track inspectors saw no reason for an investigation. There was no place left for Hamilton to stay on the slopes. He only had to give up a split second of his lead. With pleasure.
The Dutch colony was silent in the stands, no matter how powerfully voiced and hopeful. Looking soberly, the Verstappen fan community will also have to realize that their hero gambled away the lead, on Sunday with the start delay, but on Saturday with a driving error in qualifying before he left everyone in amazement. His fastest lap fantastic. Proof of the special talent, the phenomenal vehicle control. And that against the master of the pole position. Hamilton have managed 103 so far.
But before that demonstration, Verstappen spoiled the strategy. A braking man ruined the medium-soft tire and forced him to start the race with the softest compound. They are fast on the first kilometers, but as expected the tires lost their grip early after twelve laps. Verstappen could not keep up the pace and fell eight seconds behind Hamilton around the first pit stop. His mechanics looked in front of them in the pits. “I saw that the Mercedes was so much faster,” said Verstappen’s father Jos to the TV station “Sky”, himself a pilot at Michael Schumacher’s side, “I didn’t have much hope then.”
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