Abu Dhabi: post-race analysis 2021

Blimey. My bet failed but the race was ultra-exciting.

Off the line, Verstappen had a very poor start, getting immediately passed by Hamilton and doing well to fend off Norris. That slowed the Briton who then got passed by Perez, who had started well.

Norris ended up losing a few gears, getting them back, then having a slow puncture.

At the sharp end, Verstappen stayed close to Hamilton and dove down the inside. Hamilton took evasive action and went off-track, cutting the corner and not merely retaining the lead but extending his advantage to 1.2s or so. Race control laughably claimed that he had ‘given back’ the time advantage gained. Red Bull, understandably, were not pleased. 

Hamilton then slowly increased the gap, simply having the legs to get away from Verstappen and build an ever more comfortable lead. When they pitted, it was a case of rinse and repeat. The Dutchman was second and drifting backwards inexorably.

Red Bull had Perez run long to try and hold up Hamilton, but the Briton was 2-3s a lap faster, so it was a futile gesture. Or should have been. In the most impressive driving of the race, Perez somehow fended off Hamilton and when the Briton did get past the Mexican retook the position, and somehow bought his team mate a bunch of time, almost getting Verstappen into Hamilton’s DRS range by the time the Mercedes finally got past the pesky Perez. Top stuff (sadly, Perez had to retire from a certain podium and boxed rather than seeing the flag).

However, it was for nought. The Mercedes once again simply drove away from the Red Bull, which hadn’t been a match for the rivals in the last quartet of races. Giovinazzi’s car broke (shame he’s leaving, decent driver) and he parked it by the wayside, prompting a VSC. Red Bull pitted Verstappen for fresh tyres, Hamilton stayed out.

The Dutchman needed eight-tenths a lap but was averaging between two and four. It was still a cruise to victory (and title) for Hamilton).

And then it wasn’t.

Latifi crashed out, with 5-6 laps to go. Full safety car. Verstappen boxed for new soft tyres. But he had about half a dozen backmarkers between him and Hamilton and probably only a single racing lap. Highly improbable.

Red Bull were pissed the backmarkers weren’t let through (normal, if tedious, operating procedure). But then they were. Only, it seems, not all of them. Then racing resumed for one full lap. On new, soft tyres the Red Bull could finally overhaul the pace advantage of Hamilton’s Mercedes on old, hard tyres. Verstappen won the race, and the title.

But the fact that only some backmarkers were apparently let through makes it highly controversial. Could Verstappen have won had that not been the case (either by passing five or so chaps or having maybe half a lap)? Yes. But it would have been very, very difficult.

While very exciting, that does slightly sour the end of the race, and the season. I also wasn’t taken with the literally incredible nonsense from the stewards not even investigating Hamilton’s cross-country shortcut on the first lap. All in all, the criticism Michael Masi and the stewards have received is not going to be reduced by this end to the season.

 

Worth noting some other chaps were also driving. Sainz continued his excellent and consistent form to bag himself the final spot on the podium, while Tsunoda had a stellar result in 4^th. Gasly and Bottas followed (the Finn again not being great in traffic), making this a very good day indeed for AlphaTauri. Norris did end up 7^th, which given his various woes is not bad at all. Alonso and Ocon were 8^th and 9^th for a decent Alpine result, while Leclerc, who pitted, I think, an extra time under the VSC ended up a bit nobbled by that decision, grabbed the final point.

Russell and Raikkonen also DNFed.

The lobbying of Masi and the stewards by team bosses was an unedifying spectacle (particularly Wolff pleading for no safety car, when that’s a matter of, well, safety). However, I do think that Red Bull had the right to feel aggrieved by the lap 1 decision and Mercedes to be flabbergasted by what happened on the final lap.

F1’s bigwigs need to sort out the rules and their implementation because the degree of inconsistency (in this instance not even applying their own rules to either let through all or no backmarkers) is simply unfair on drivers and teams. 

It was, without doubt, a very exciting race, particularly Perez’s impeccable defence and the final lap. But the sport needs to sort out its refereeing, otherwise it will be seen as WWE on the road.

 

Morris Dancer