The controversial conclusion to the 2021 Formula 1 season was something no one involved in running the championship should want to see a repeat of.
The title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was essentially decided by the FIA F1 race director’s failure to follow the series’ own rule book. A year-long competition undermined by a single, incomprehensible decision which was plainly at odds with the rules.
It was never likely that particular situation would be repeated this year, for the simple reason that Verstappen has long been so far ahead that his second title win has been a foregone conclusion for weeks. No one could argue the events of Sunday diminished his claim to the title.
Yet a similar sense of incomprehension greeted some moments of yesterday’s often baffling title-decider. Teams were confused over fundamental matters of how the race was being run, such as how points would be awarded and even whether the race had finished. Meanwhile drivers were livid over a shocking lapse in safety standards.
It added up to another championship-decider which did not show F1 at its best.
Too wet to race
The race began on time but the circuit was drenched. Within a matter of minutes one car was in the barrier, another was pulled off the track, a third has driving around with an advertising board blocking the view ahead and the red flags were out. Drivers at the back of the field complained that visibility was non-existent.
Inevitably, this led many to question whether the initial start should have happened. Whether to race in the rain is a dilemma F1 often faces and it isn’t an easy call to get right. Later, during the subsequent suspension, race control made one attempt to restart proceedings which had to be abandoned when the conditions did not improve as expected.
However the decision to use a standing start in the first place has to be questioned. F1 has the option of commencing proceedings behind the Safety Car, which forces all drivers to use heavily-treaded wet weather tyres instead of intermediates, which are less effective at clearing water away. This was eventually done for the restart, which proceeded successfully.
The decision not to hold a standing restart is often unpopular as drivers such as Carlos Sainz Jnr acknowledged. But on this occasion it may have been the right call.
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Crane on track
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