Why The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 Was One of the Most Controversial Races in Formula One History.
It seems unlikely that any sport’s governing body would seek to change the outcome of it’s highest prize in order to have a new name on the trophy. It seems even less likely that the same governing body these changes purely due to a racial prejudice. However, those were the allegations that many Formula One fans put to the FIA, the governing body, and to the man in charge of Formula One, after the final race of the 2021 season.
During the 2021 season, we saw Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen going head-to-head for the World Driver’s Championship. After Lewis’ race win in the penultimate race in Qatar, the two drivers went into the final race of the season on equal points. This meant that whoever finished higher (within the top 10) would snatch the Championship title. However, should neither of them have scored points, Max Verstappen would be crowned the championship as he had won more races than Hamilton throughout the season.
With Verstappen starting on pole position and Hamilton close behind in second, the final round of the season began with the “Showdown in the Desert”. Swiftly, Hamilton gained the upper hand from Verstappen by the first corner and stayed in front of the Dutchman for a long period of the race.
By lap 50 Hamilton was still in the lead, his record-breaking 8th Formula One Championship was surely on the way. However, with 6 laps remaining Williams’ driver Nicholas Latifi had a big crash into the barriers at Turn 14. Consequently, the safety car was brought out to allow the marshals to remove the car and debris from the track: ultimately neutralizing the race. The 14 second lead that Hamilton had built up to Verstappen had now disappeared. Additionally, Max used this safety car period in order to change his tires in the pits, much quicker than would be under green flag conditions. However, Lewis couldn’t do this as he would lose the lead to the Redbull driver and therefore lose the Championship. With the number of laps left ticking down, all 19 drivers (Mazepin not taking part due to a positive COVID-19 test) bunched together again, it was time to start thinking about getting the race re-started.
However, this is when the controversy that surrounded the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix started. Between race leader, Lewis Hamilton, and second place, Max Verstappen, were 5 cars that had been lapped by the rest of the grid. Again, between the Dutchman and the Ferrari driver Carlos Sianz- who was running in 3rd– a further 2 cars that had been lapped were in between. Normally, during a safety car period all lapped cars would be allowed to unlap themselves by overtaking the safety car and rejoining the group at the back of the pack. Confusion scurried across the teams when Race Director, Micheal Masi, sent out the instruction that the 5 lapped cars between the two title fighters could unlap themselves. But this instruction was not given out to other lapped cars including Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher. This caused an abundance of confusion as to why only certain cars could unlap themselves. Stroll, the Aston Martin driver, even going onto his radio asserting his confusion, stating, “I don’t understand why I shouldn’t be able to overtake the safety car.”
This was purely to get the race re-started and finished under regular racing conditions, something that Masi was always keen to do.
After the safety vat was brought back into the pitlane, and the race was brought back to regular race conditions under the red flag, only one lap left remained. One lap, that would decide the next Formula One World Champion. It was a wheel-to-wheel battle for Verstappen and Hamilton, but now, no cars were in-between the title fighters. This meant that Max- who was on fresh tires- was right up behind his rival. On the corner before the straight, Verstappen made an incredible move past the Brit and overtook him: changing motorsport history as he became the first F1 Dutch World Champion.
The man overseeing the race, Micheal Masi, was heavily criticized by not only fans, but teams as well. Hamilton’s team, Mercedes, initially appealed the results of the season finale under the terms that not all cars were able to unlap themselves. In which, RedBull Racing defended this action by stating that “any cars, does not mean all” as it says “any” in the sporting regulations. But also, the other cars who weren’t able to unlap themselves were not affected by this.
However, many noticed that a race earlier in the season in Baku had a similar event, but with a different outcome. Close to the end of the race, Max Verstappen had a tire failure and crashed into the barriers, causing his race to end. To make sure that the race finished under a green flag, Masi decided that a Red Flag should be flown. Once the track was clear, a standing start- where all cars lined up on the grid- took place. This start also saw Lewis Hamilton lock up his tires and lose the race. This showed to many that Masi had options available to him that he had used previously.
After this shocking controversy, Masi was sacked as the Race Director and replaced by Eduardo Freitas and Niel Wittich. In addition, new regulations and rules were brought in to prevent more controversial races. Masi’s decision was ultimately labeled in a document as a “Human Error”, to which Toto Wolff stated was “very important”.
However, Verstappen’s success should not go uncredited. For the young Dutchman to challenge a 7-time World Champion in a title fight and have as much glory as he did was incredible. The 2021 season’s battle between Hamilton and Verstappen offered one of the most thrilling seasons for many years. His talent and aggression proved he was capable of winning the world title- which he did in the end.
So, Max Verstappen gained his first Formula One World Title and became the first Dutchman to win the championship, making history. Still, the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi remains tainted and tarnished in the history books as controversial and many continue to question the outcome of the title decider and the integrity of the sport.
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