F1 | Abu Dhabi GP: the ninety minutes that decided the world championship

Max Verstappen is World Champion. After an almost nine-month long season, the final act of the 2021 championship gave the Dutchman from Red Bull his first world title, in an unexpected finale full of contrasting emotions for the protagonists of one of the best world championships in years to come this part. A challenge that was resolved in the last stages, however creating numerous controversies which at the moment have not yet found a definitive answer, despite the fact that the official ceremony of the International Federation will be scheduled on Thursday evening, where the number 33 should be officially awarded the most coveted title in this sport.

“It's incredible to be world champion and I couldn't have asked for a crazier last race of the year. It was a bit of a roller coaster, from not really having a chance to win until the last lap, everything changed, and we gave everything. Of course, with the restart of the Safety Car on the last lap we had fresher tyres, but it was still necessary to make the decisive move and luckily it worked", explained Max during the interviews, giving the world his first words as Champion of the world. An epilogue which, however, did not convince everyone, especially those who emerged defeated from this duel, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, even if the Englishman did not refrain from complimenting his opponent: "first of all, congratulations to Max and his team. I think we did an incredible job this year. My team, everyone in the factory, all the men and women we have, and here, have worked so hard this year. It was the most difficult of seasons. I'm so proud of them, so grateful to be part of the journey with them. In this last part of the season we gave absolutely everything and we never gave up and this is the most important thing", declared Lewis in the interviews before the podium, with what would be the last words before a long press silence, interrupted only by the announcement of the protests presented by the Brackley team to try to overturn a result which, from their point of view, would not have respected the regulations. Three hundred kilometers that decided the fate of the world championship, to be retraced to understand the motivations behind one of the strangest and most daring endings we have seen in recent times.

The race – The roles are reversed

On Saturday, Verstappen seemed to have placed the first important step in his chase for the title, achieving a pole that could have proved fundamental, especially if the Dutchman had managed to maintain the lead of the race even in the moments after the start. After damaging the only set of medium tires available in qualifying, the Red Bull standard-bearer was in fact forced to set his best time on the soft, thus diversifying the race strategy from his main rival, Lewis Hamilton who, instead, he was able to complete the second run directly on the yellow stripe compound. A choice which, on the eve of the race, did not however seem entirely penalizing, because the feedback on Friday during free practice on the softer compound had left positive sensations, such as to push several teams in the middle of the group to adopt it in the first part of the race, aware that however, the medium would have offered greater flexibility over long distances. Precisely for this reason, being able to be effective at the start would have been an indispensable aspect for Max, in order to have the opportunity to manage the tires in the best possible way and, above all, to take away this advantage from those who would have been able to reap the most of the benefits such as 'English from Mercedes. A few seconds that could have changed the fate of a race and of the entire world championship. A few seconds that had effectively reversed the scenarios because, at the moment of releasing the clutch after the traffic lights went out, Verstappen had not been able to oppose the progression of Hamilton, who had made an excellent start at the start, quickly overtaking the Dutch, victim of a lack of grip from the first box. A reversal of roles to which the Dutchman immediately tried to respond, trying to regain his position at chicane six-seven, with a braking worthy of one of his best maneuvers, undoubtedly aggressive, but at the same time clean, even if not had left the seven-time world champion no margin to stay on the track, taking advantage of it to cut the corner and regain the lead of the race. In order to avoid a possible sanction, the rider from Stevenage had attempted to give back as quickly as possible what he had gained in chronometric terms in the contested episode, bringing the gap between the two back from around a second and a half to just five tenths. A very shrewd decision, not only because it had most likely avoided him a penalty for leaving the track and gained an advantage, but also because he had done it before the third sector, the one in which Verstappen would have suffered most in the management of the car and tires in the in case he remained within striking distance of the leader, thus losing what Hamilton had just given him back.

Once that first hurdle had been overcome, the scenarios were completely reversed and for the Englishman everything seemed to be downhill. A change of roles, where whoever had to chase was transformed into a hare, while whoever had to escape became the hunter. A difficult balance to find especially for the standard bearer of the Milton Keynes team, who on the one hand had to push to try not to let the new leader escape, but on the other he couldn't even exaggerate to avoid putting excessive stress on the tires and anticipating consequently the stop, which in the initial plans would most likely have taken place around the twentieth passage. An aspect of which Hamilton was undoubtedly aware and, precisely for this reason, in the laps following the overtaking he had tried to maintain a pace fast enough to allow him to gain those few seconds of advantage useful for denying his rival the slipstream effect on the straights, and then managing the tires and the advantage accumulated until the moment it would be necessary to return to the pits. A few seconds that had also put him safe from a possible undercut, finding himself in the comfortable position of being able to evaluate the options available to him and move in the ways that the team considered most profitable, which included the opportunity to stay on the track for a few laps more to reduce the length of the second stint, or to play safely by constantly covering the opponents' moves.

A difference in pace between the two which was particularly noticeable in the third sector, the most demanding one for the rear tyres, i.e. the axle which, more than any other, would have undergone greater stress in conditions of maximum fuel load. By managing to keep temperatures under control, Hamilton was able to increase his speed by a few km/h on the slower sections, such as the one at the hotel, gaining a margin of between two and four tenths with each passage. , while Verstappen was forced to respond in those areas of the track where he could try to force the front, such as at the entrance to nine, where he maintained a more internal and aggressive trajectory, slightly anticipating the braking, or in the points where the covers were left side having to do most of the work, as in the dreaded turn three. Sensations also confirmed by the radio teams of the two contenders, in particular those of the seven-time world champion, who had been informed that the only areas in which the Dutchman was able to recover on a chronometric level were precisely those in which he tended to manage the tyres, aware that the longer the medium compound lasted, the greater the benefits would be in the second half of the race. Lap after lap, however, the deterioration of the tires and the difficulties in making the rear work had become increasingly evident for Max, so much so as to push the Red Bull strategists to identify a useful window in which to bring him back, even if this would have meant anticipating of several return to the pit stop. A need also underlined by the driver himself the lap before the pit stop, when he opened the radio to inform his engineers that the tires were actually suffering and that, for the following stint, he would like a lower attack angle at the front, in in order to find a better aerodynamic balance on the car and help the rear axle. In such a delicate phase of the race, a more loaded rear wing would most likely have been able to make a positive contribution, but it is worth remembering that on Friday the Milton Keynes team had suffered the opposite problem, particularly in the morning, when it had noticed with both its standard-bearers a noticeable understeer which had led it to carry out comparative tests with different aerodynamic configurations, including a more relaxed solution not only to increase top speed, but also to have greater freedom of action in case problems with making the front end work again for the rest of the weekend.

To bring Verstappen back, however, it was essential to also take a look at what was happening behind him, in particular the position of Valtteri Bottas, who would certainly have extended the stint as much as possible to make full use of the medium tire and free himself on the long run distance of the traffic that had characterized his first kilometers of the race. Taking advantage of that window that had been created on the Finn, Red Bull had decided to recall its title aspirant, stopping him during the thirteenth lap for what should have been his only pit stop until the finish line, even though this would have brought back on track behind both Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, with the latter having up to that point been the protagonist of an excellent opening stint. Could he have waited for a few more laps to have the space to get out in front of the Ferrarista? From a purely chronometric point of view it was an option to take into consideration, because with another three or four laps on that set the problem would not have arisen given the difference in pace between the two, but it is clear that at the same time Red Bull didn't even want to waste time on Lewis, forcing him to rejoin so as not to give him the opportunity to extend the first part of the race on the yellow band compound. Even if Mercedes could have actually extended the stint, the risk of finding Max just a few seconds after the stop was too high, a risk that the strategists were not willing to run for a few less laps on a tire that, in any case, would have had to guarantee good durability over distance.

Unfortunately for the number 33, however, that extra lap and a half passed behind the Spaniard from the Red had resulted in a rather significant loss of time, so much so that it put him about eight seconds behind his rival for the world crown, two more than before the break. To be able to close a gap that had widened more than expected, Red Bull's only hope was that Sergio Perez would be able to complete the pre-established plan, postponing the first post to try to slow down Hamilton for as long as possible, giving your teammate the opportunity to get closer and, in the best case scenario, take advantage of it to rejoin the fight. A decision that had paid off, because those two laps in which the Mexican had been able to keep the Briton behind him by responding blow for blow had allowed Verstappen to reduce the gap from the top to just under a second and a half , virtually reopening the chase for stage success and the world championship, especially given what would happen in the final stages.

If that duel had once again given hope to the Anglo-Austrian team, for Hamilton having lost that small but precious advantage that he had managed to build before the pit stop meant having to rebuild everything from scratch, going back to pushing to put between himself and those who had behind him a safety margin such as not to allow him to profit from the slipstream and remain in front even in the event of any incidents or errors. A task that Lewis had completed to perfection, adding a further three seconds to what he had previously accumulated in the space of ten laps, also thanks to a less aggressive approach on the part of the Dutchman compared to the first part of the race in the fast corners, most likely due to preserve the covers with which he would have had to reach the checkered flag. The entry of the Virtual Safety Car shortly after mid-race to remove Antonio Giovinazzi's car, which had stopped on the side of the track due to a hydraulic problem, had offered Red Bull an opportunity that it had not missed, returning once again to mount the second set of hard tires to try out a final part of the race that was all about attacking. Ultimately, the team led by Christian Horner had nothing to lose and was equally aware that, without that pit stop, the chances of catching the virtual leader of the classification before the finish line were minimal. A move to which Mercedes had decided not to respond, not so much because there had been no way, but because the risk taken would have been extremely high: stopping first would have meant giving the green light to Verstappen, who would undoubtedly have followed the opposite tactic to gain the track position with about nine/ten seconds of advantage, while returning in the second lap would have entailed the danger that the "VSC ending" phase would arrive right at the moment of the pit stop, finding oneself under green flag conditions in the pit lane, as would actually have happened if they had pursued the second option. A risk that the Stella strategists were not willing to take, especially bearing in mind that, by remaining on the track, Lewis would still have had a considerable margin of around nineteen seconds on his side to manage in the remaining twenty laps, a rather reassuring gap over some coverage which would have allowed him in any case to reach the checkered flag without particular difficulties.

Although managing to recover a second per lap seemed like an essentially impossible feat, as the chronometric comparisons also demonstrated, Verstappen did not give up, starting to remove tenths after tenths, until he closed himself back to a gap of around eleven seconds. An effort that, on the surface, could almost seem in vain, but which would have taken on a completely different meaning if an unexpected episode had occurred in their favor in the final laps of the race. Those few but fundamental seconds gained in the first part of the third stint had in fact allowed the Dutchman to return to the Englishman's "window", effectively making it impossible for Hamilton to stop again in the event of a VSC or Safety Car without the concrete risk of losing the first position in favor of his rival in the fight for the title, who could have decided to stay out to gain track position, making Perez's intervention in the first half of the race even more decisive. An extremely delicate decision that arose at the end of the fifty-third lap, when, following an accident involving Nicholas Latifi at turn fourteen, the race director had been unable to do anything other than recall the safety car in order to allow the removal of the Canadian's car, stopped in full trajectory. The worst possible scenario for the pacesetter had just come true and this had once again placed the Brackley team in an extremely difficult situation, faced with a decision that could have completely reversed the fate of a race that had been managed smoothly up to that point. Rejoining would have been a viable option, but it would almost certainly have meant losing the lead of the race, with the risk that the latter, given the few laps still available, would end right behind the Safety Car, without any possibility of recovering what left during the stop. A risk that, once again, Mercedes was not willing to take and, as the first radio teams also highlighted, the Star strategists themselves were quite convinced that the race would not be restarted, aware that the material time to complete all the procedures, between removing the danger on the track and managing lapped laps, it might not have been enough to restart before the end. On the contrary, hoping that the situation could be resolved quickly, Red Bull had decided to go for broke, calling Verstappen back to the pits to fit a soft tire with which he could seriously risk his chances of winning if he were to return to a situation of green flag. Clearly, in that case the Englishman would have been exposed to an easy overtaking because, with tires over forty steps fresher and two compounds softer, the story of the race would have had a rather predictable epilogue.

Five laps could have changed the outcome of a world championship which, thirty kilometers from the finish line, seemed to have been written. After an initial phase in which the group had been regrouped, all that was expected was the communication to the race director who would allow the lapped drivers to overtake the safety car. A communication which, however, did not arrive before the fifty-seventh step, the penultimate one, also leaving a certain astonishment when it was realized that this procedure would not involve all the lapped people, as normally happens, but only those who were between the two contenders for the title. A situation that would become even stranger when, a few seconds later, the same race director announced that the Safety Car would return at the end of that round, leaving the fight for the world title to be resolved in the last five kilometers of one of the championships longest and most intense in history. Taking advantage of the softer and fresher tyres, Verstappen was able to quickly conclude the practice, attacking Hamilton, who was left on tires with over forty laps under his belt, at the turn five corner. A predictable maneuver, but also executed with a certain intelligence, because by maintaining a more open trajectory in the center of the curve it had made it impossible for the Englishman to attempt the intersection he had planned with a wider line from the beginning, aware that in any case his the real weak point would have been the traction phase, where cooler tires could have really made the difference. Despite the seven-time world champion's attempts to respond, especially when braking at turn nine, Verstappen was able to manage an extremely delicate moment excellently, always positioning himself in the right place to repel any attacks. A unique and unexpected ending had given us a new world champion.

Could there have been a red flag?

Undoubtedly, among the options available to the race director following Latifi's accident, there was also that of completely neutralizing the race, giving the two title aspirants the opportunity to change tires and launch themselves into an equal duel in the last five laps. It would have been a potentially correct choice, more than what was actually seen, a "finale for television", as several drivers defined it. A show, because to get to that point it was necessary to overturn the interpretation of a regulation that has been applied in the same way for years, but which in this case saw a different application in order to be able to have that last useful round of "suspense" which could have changed, perhaps in the worst possible way, the fate of a world championship that now seemed to be written. The red flag would indeed have been a fairer solution for both, but at the same time it would always have been in search of the show, because that situation was clearly not such as to require the interruption of the race, not to mention that, most likely, the director of race to wait until the recovery times were shorter, thus still being able to respect the procedure and give the green flag to award the title right at the end. The incidents exist and, if these were such as to put Hamilton in a situation that exposed him to a possible attack in the final stages (if all the necessary points had been executed to the letter), clearly the race director could not have taken them as an excuse to show a red flag that, at that moment, would have had no need to be exposed just to put the two contenders on an equal footing. A Safety Car situation, as we actually saw, which however required more than necessary, leading to a finale full of controversy.

The Mercedes protests

If at Red Bull it was impossible to contain the celebrations for a special result at the end of a particularly intense race and season, at Mercedes the mood could not be the same, particularly after a finish that had generated several controversies. Doubts that the German company itself had expressed by presenting two official complaints, for the infringement of articles 48.8 and 48.12 of the sporting regulations. The first protest concerned the possibility that Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton even before the restart, a maneuver expressly prohibited: a complaint which, however, found a prompt response from the commissioners, underlining that, even if it was true that the Dutchman had overtaken his rival , this had occurred for a very short period of time while both cars were alternating the acceleration and braking phases to warm up the braking system and that, above all, car number 33 had fallen back behind the leader before the finish line , which would have marked the conclusion of the neutralization period.

The second protest, however, was much more complicated, the one involving article 48.12 of the regulation. There were two elements disputed by Toto Wolff's team: the first aspect revolved around the fact that not all the dubbed people had been given the opportunity to double themselves, as should normally happen, while the second was connected precisely to what was said in precedence, more specifically that the Safety Car should have returned to the pits only on the following lap in which the last lapped car would have overtaken the race leader, which in reality did not happen. A request for clarification that had nothing to do with Verstappen directly, but which only involved the methods and procedures applied by race control, which, in turn, would have determined the final result of the Grand Prix.

The first part of article 48.12 states that “If the race director considers it safe to do so, and the message 'Lapped cars may now overtake' has been sent to all competitors via the official messaging, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the Safety Car.” In fact, lapped drivers are generally given the opportunity to double only when the dangerous situation on the track is resolved and/or the conditions exist to do so without putting the marshals present along the track at risk. Latifi's accident had occurred in a rather delicate area of ​​the track, in a rather narrow section and, in any case, in full trajectory, which is why for Michael Masi, the race director, it would have been fundamental to put safety first. safety of the marshalls, above all because when the order to let the lapped people pass was confirmed, they would no longer have to respect the delta, being able to accelerate to try to rejoin the back of the group. A situation that had already arisen last year in Imola, albeit in particular circumstances, when some riders who were trying to rejoin the group after splitting up had risked running over the marshals who were still working on the track to remove debris, relaunching the concerns for a phase that still presents is a topic of discussion.

As can be seen from the images, during the fifty-fifth pass, the procedures for removing the car with the designated tractor were still in progress, which is why for Masi it would have been dangerous to allow the lapped drivers the opportunity to overtake at that moment. the safety car. Potentially, the first lap indicated to grant this possibility would have been the next one, the fifty-sixth, but even in this case some critical issues arose. Observing Pierre Gasly's camera car, which passed by the scene of the accident about fifty seconds after Hamilton, as he was trying to rejoin the group after stopping in the pits to fit softer tyres, it emerges that in that area of ​​the track there were the commissioners are still present in full flight.

It is no coincidence that, while the leader was already towards turn six of the fifty-sixth lap, the race director had indicated that the lapped cars would not have the opportunity to double up, as required by the regulations, so everything would be postponed at least until next lap waiting for the marshalls to finish their work. But why had this taken so long? First of all, the position of the car was not the easiest. Although it was true that on the other side of the road there was an opening into which to take the car, this would have meant having the other single-seaters pass through the area where there was a lot of carbon debris, which is why it was preferred to adopt the the use of a tractor equipped with a crane, albeit further away. In reality, the Williams driver himself had needed over a minute to get out of the car, having to first receive confirmation that the car was safe from an electrical point of view. In addition to having to clean the track from debris caused by contact with the barriers and verify its safety, while waiting for the arrival of the tractor and the authorization to touch the car without suffering the risk of an electric shock (which would arrived about forty seconds after the driver left the cockpit), the brakes of Latifi's car had started to catch fire, prompting the commissioners to use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

This had further slowed down the works, taking longer than initially imagined to completely clean the track, with the car removal procedures starting only three and a half minutes after the impact. An aspect that can also be verified from the international feed, in which the marshals can be observed starting to leave the site of the accident once the work has been completed just as the cars are passing through the offending area at the end of the fifty-sixth lap. Could the race director have already given the order at the end of that lap to let the lapped cars pass? Probably yes, but it is good to keep in mind that Masi himself, through the circuit's internal cameras, had the opportunity to carefully and consistently follow the progress of the works, so as to be able to judge firsthand whether it was safe to begin the construction procedure. doubling. It goes without saying that, at that moment, the commissioners and the race director had not yet created the necessary conditions to allow anyone who was a lap behind to overtake the safety car.

A communication that would only arrive halfway through the next lap, the fifty-seventh, when however only five of the eight lapped, i.e. those present between Hamilton and Verstappen, were granted the opportunity to overtake the safety car, while the other three , in this case Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher, who were behind the Red Bull driver, should have remained in the positions occupied until that moment, generating extreme confusion even for the drivers themselves. And it is precisely around this point that the two elements of the accusation presented by Mercedes revolve. The regulation, in fact, states that "unless the race director deems that the presence of the Safety Car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has overtaken the leader, the Safety car will return to the pits at the end of the lap following." Not only did the last lapped car, Mick Schumacher, not have the opportunity to lap, but the safety car also rejoined on the same lap as the announcement that Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel could lap each other , and not the next one as per the regulation. Aspects that Brakley's team had clearly highlighted during the hearing with the stewards after the race, to which Red Bull, an interested party in the case, had tried to respond by underlining how in the original text ("If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” has been sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car ”), that “any” would not indicate all lapped cars, leaving a sense of ambiguity. Although in that context it actually leaves a certain amount of room for possible interpretations, it is clear that the fundamental principle of that article is that all lapped drivers must have the possibility of overtaking the safety car, as Masi himself explained a few months ago on the occasion of the Eifel Grand Prix, where the fact that ten cars had to split had prolonged the period in which the safety car remained on the track: "There is a requirement in the sporting regulations, to let all the lapped cars pass" – explained the race director -. “With ten or eleven cars still having to split up, the Safety Car period was a little longer than we would have normally expected,” Masi then added. You therefore wonder why the race director had not at least respected this point, given that there would most likely have been enough time to let the other three lapped cars pass.

The second point contested by Red Bull concerned the directly subsequent article, 48.13, which states that “When the race director decides that it is safe to call the Safety Car, the message “Safety car in this lap” will be sent to all drivers competitors through the official messaging system and the orange lights of the safety car will be turned off. This will be the signal to competitors and drivers that the [Safety Car] will enter the pit lane at the end of that lap.” A few words which, according to the representatives of the Milton Keynes team, would overwrite what was said in the previous article, such that, in the event of the aforementioned message appearing, it would therefore be mandatory for the Safety Car to return at the very end of that lap, regardless of what other parts of the regulation suggest. Finally, to support its position, Red Bull had also brought to the table article 15.3, according to which the race director would have the possibility of managing all these aspects independently, being able to authoritatively control the use of the safety car , without however going into specifics regarding which aspects are influenced by this opportunity.

Aspects also partially shared by the stewards themselves, who had further underlined how all the teams had reached an agreement in the past to ensure that the Grands Prix ended under green flag conditions and not behind the Safety Car, therefore partly exploiting those parts open to interpretation of the regulation to obtain a more emotional ending. Even if article 48.12 had not been applied in full, as reported by the commissioners in the official document, article 48.13 and, more particularly the message "Safety Car in this lap", would completely overwrite what was said previously, making in fact it is mandatory for the safety car to return to the pits, despite the contradiction with what is stated just a few lines above. Aspects which had also led to highlighting how, in the opinion of the stewards, Mercedes' request to draw up the final classification based on the positions of the penultimate lap would not have been appropriate, as this would in fact have shortened the race by one lap, a a step that the commissioners clearly did not feel like taking as they did not have enough elements to justify this hypothesis. The extra lap after the lapping phase is applied not only to give the cars that have recently passed the Safety Car the opportunity to rejoin the group, although this last element is not mandatory, but also to give the commissioners the opportunity along the entire journey to prepare for the restart, without exposing them to any risk.

The explanations provided by the stewards, which however do not appear to be totally in conflict with the regulations, seem to indicate that the race director essentially did not completely infringe any article when he took those decisions which led to numerous controversies, an element which the FIA ​​could bring this to its advantage. What appears to be under discussion seems more like the possible interpretation of the same, which leaves room for ambiguity and the possibility of conflict, up to a point where the show had priority over sport and the rules always applied up to that point in similar cases. Approach also partially confirmed by Masi himself, who during the hearing then added that the application of articles 48.12 and 48.13 would have served to remove the cars that would have interfered in a race situation between the leaders, even if this at the same time time would have penalized those who, instead, were behind them, such as Valtteri Bottas, who in order to overtake a lapped driver on the last lap had had to follow an extremely penalized trajectory in turn five, seeing every opportunity for attacking Carlos Sainz for the podium fight. Inconsistencies with the past which could also go against the FIA ​​International Sporting Code, especially if the case were to be brought before a court. After having seen the first protest rejected, a few minutes later the second one suffered the same fate, leaving Mercedes with few opportunities left to try to overturn a result that they considered unfair, given the numerous inconsistencies, other than submitting a request for intention of appeal with which to have time to delve deeper into the case before deciding on the definitive course of action. If the FIA's decisions are in line with the regulations, this will certainly be the subject of a possible appeal from Mercedes, provided that the latter decides to proceed with a communication which should arrive before XNUMXpm on Thursday, falling within the ninety-six hours allowed.