The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Verstappen snatches the world title from Hamilton on the last lap: And it ends in madness

2021-12-12T18:33:26.466Z


Now a crash has shaped the World Cup final - just differently than expected. Max Verstappen became world champion in the last few meters, but Mercedes refused to accept it and protested.


Enlarge image

"This is absolutely crazy, for all of us": Max Verstappen and his team after the victory in Abu Dhabi

Photo: F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi / imago images / ANP

The scene of the race, the season, the world championship:

Max Verstappen and his Red Bull were the first to enter the home straight in Abu Dhabi, the rear broke out a little, you could guess the speed, also the impatience, the anticipation, with him wanted to get the last few hundred meters behind him.

And then he did it: With fireworks and the cheers of the Dutch fans in the stands, he was crowned Formula 1 world champion for the first time in his career.

Lewis Hamilton, who had looked like the winner until shortly before the end, sat motionless in his Mercedes.

With the eighth title, the Briton would have become the sole record holder in the racing series.

The result:

With his victory over Hamilton

and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari

Verstappen wins the season finale in Abu Dhabi - and the Drivers' Championship with eight points ahead of Hamilton.

Both had started the last race tied, something that had not happened since 1974, and this season finale was also something for the history books.

Read the race report here.

The start: It

was a disaster from Red Bull's point of view: Verstappen started the race from first place, but Hamilton came off much better, he left Verstappen behind.

Almost collided:

The Red Bull driver countered, tried the overtaking maneuver in the first chicane between the back straight, Hamilton had to evade, left the track and stayed in front.

The stewards saw no reason to investigate the incident, Hamilton subsequently controlled the race.

What to do?

On lap nine, Verstappen reported the expected tire wear, Hamilton had a 2.7 second lead and gradually increased it. Five laps later, Verstappen got hard tires, Mercedes reacted immediately and also equipped Hamilton with them. With that, Sergio Pérez suddenly led the race in the Red Bull, ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Verstappen. Red Bull radioed “Plan B” to Pérez, Verstappen's team-mate. Means: stay out as long as possible and slow down Hamilton.

"Checo is a legend":

And the Mexican succeeded furiously. Pérez stopped Hamilton and took around six seconds from the Briton until he had to admit defeat on his worn tire and on lap 21 also let his teammate by, who was able to drive up in the meantime. Only 1.7 seconds separated Hamilton and Verstappen. "Checo is a legend," radioed Verstappen.

A crash changes everything: but

as helpful as the action was, its effect fizzled out again quickly. By lap 35, Hamilton was back down to 5.5 seconds. Red Bull then used a short virtual safety car phase to equip both of its cars with fresh tires, Hamilton stayed outside. With the new tires, Verstappen caught up again. "Bit of a risk leaving me out, isn't it?" Radioed Hamilton. Seven laps from the finish line, however, he was still eleven seconds ahead. Under normal circumstances that would have been enough for Hamilton.

But this race was not normal:

Nicholas Latifi had an accident, his Williams scattered debris on the track. The safety car neutralized the race, Hamilton's lead was gone and Verstappen pitted again - unlike Hamilton. The race management, which initially communicated that lapped vehicles were not allowed to overtake the safety car, caused confusion. At the time there were five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen. The decision was revised at the last moment, the lapped between the World Cup competitors should fall back. When the race was then released for one lap, Verstappen gave Hamilton no chance with his worn tires.

The protest:

Wolff was already upset on the radio: "That's not right!" He called to the race director Michael Masi. After the race it became known that Mercedes had lodged a protest. Not only against the decision to only let a few cars pass the safety car (namely those between the two World Cup rivals). Verstappen is also said to have been briefly ahead of Hamilton in the safety car phase and thus illegally overtook him. Responsible persons from both teams had to compete with the race management, a decision is pending.

No consolation:

For Mercedes it was probably that they secured the constructors' championship for the eighth time in a row. That was also due to the fact that the celebrated hero Pérez was eliminated in the second Red Bull. With the eighth title overall, Mercedes moved up to third place on the list of the best. Since this rating was introduced for the 1958 season, Ferrari (16) has won the most championships - the last, however, was 13 years ago.

A folk hero:

Verstappen, who stepped in front of the cameras during the interview with a cramp in his leg, was enthusiastic. “As a little boy, my goal was to become a Formula 1 driver. You hope to get on the podium and win. And then you stand here and someone tells you you're world champion. This is absolutely crazy for all of us, ”he said. Verstappen found words of praise especially for Pérez and his entire crew: »I love my team. It could stay that way for ten, fifteen years. I want to stay with Red Bull until the end, ”he said. And received congratulations from home. Verstappen has given Dutch sport "a historic day," tweeted Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

And the second?

Was the loser in the World Cup duel, but not a bad loser.

"Congratulations to Max and his team," said Hamilton after a season finale that Formula 1 will not forget anytime soon.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-12-12

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.