BarcelonaNo one expected it. In a season of transition, Verstappen has appeared in the World Cup to turn everything upside down. The Dutch driver has been the revelation that has dazzled the eight-time world champion to win his first World Championship. With shouts, tears and disbelief, Verstappen celebrated his victory in a crazy race that represented perfectly how it has been all season: a fight between two great drivers who have made history.
Verstappen has always been an early driver. He was the youngest driver to lead an F1 Grand Prix, the youngest winner of a Grand Prix (at 18 years 7 months and 15 days in the Spanish Grand Prix 2016), the youngest driver to get a podium , the youngest to set the lap record, the youngest to set the lap record in one session and the first to compete in the history of this category, making his debut at 17 years and 166 days in the Grand Prix of Australia in 2015 when he was driving a Scuderia Toro Rosso. He had always been first in everything. And now he has achieved the only thing he needed: to be the first driver to catch an F1 World Championship in Lewis Hamilton and to be proclaimed champion.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last circuit to host the Formula 1 season, was the scene of a coronation. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, tied on points in the standings thanks to a brilliant season for both riders, knew they were 58 laps in the box or lane. They could come out victorious and write their name on the coveted trophy or return home with the bitter aftertaste of losing the World Cup in the last race of the year, having done the work all year. When the traffic lights went out, there was no alternative: the big winner would come out of Abu Dhabi, but so would the loser. It was up to them to choose who they wanted to be.
If the tension was through the clouds, on the first lap of the race Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the inside by touching the rear wheel of the Mercedes and the pits exploded. The Briton, who took advantage of the opportunity, went straight to the outside of the track to put himself first. The Red Bulls demanded that Hamilton return the position to the Dutchman; Mercedes congratulated their driver for opening up space. The FIA reviewed the action and allowed Hamilton to maintain the lead in the race. The first match ball of the race was for Mercedes.
Apotheosis script twist
After both changed tires, Hamilton was eight seconds ahead of Verstappen. The British’s lead was key from the second position, just behind Checo Pérez, as he approached the Mexican’s Red Bull. When he got stuck in the back of his car, the fight began. For an entire lap, the battle between the two pilots was fierce and spectacular. Perez played as Versttappen’s best possible teammate. The Mexican, with a masterful drive, plugged Hamilton, with smooth, risky and determined movement, and signed some advances that formed the perfect defense for his teammate. Red Bull had won the second battle, but the war was not yet victorious.
The third assault was silent. With a virtualsafety car questionable, Verstappen’s Red Bull put on new tires, while Hamilton didn’t pit. Round and round, the Dutchman approached the British, who maintained a fluid communication with his mechanics on the radio. “Time and turns”, this is what the pilot asked for every two or three. Five laps from the end, the safety car to shake up the World Cup. With the race slowing down, the Red Bulls took the opportunity to make one pit stop and exchanging tires for Verstappen, while Hamilton, in disbelief, asked his team for explanations to stay on the tarmac. The safety car left one lap from the end and the World Championship was decided in the last lap of the last race. A strange way to end the course, but the most realistic to do justice to an exceptional season.
Hamilton, however, could neither with him nor with Red Bull. The Briton saw Verstappen overtake him like an exhalation with five bends to cross the finish line. All he could do was watch, through tears and under his helmet, as Verstappen crossed the finish line in front of him. Red Bull’s risks, courage and teamwork were rewarded, and Verstappen climbed to the top step of the podium amid fireworks.
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