On this night full of topics, controversy, conflict, crashes, yellow flags, safety cars... Once again, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale brought together almost all the elements of passion on the F1 pitch.
F1's final battle of the season, Hamilton and Verstappen staged this passionate duel, but the ending was dominated by a controversial decision of the race - Pole-starting Verstappen shattered Hamilton's dream of "eight champions" in the last lap, and was crowned the F1 driver's world champion for the first time in his career, becoming the 34th world champion in F1 history. On this night full of topics, controversy, conflict, crashes, yellow flags, safety cars... Once again, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale brought together almost all the elements of passion on the F1 pitch.
After winning the Drivers of the Year championship, Verstappen came to this moment of indulgence in the ups and downs of the year. At the moment of the line, he cried with joy in the voice of the team, and then confessed in front of the camera that he wanted to continue to fight with the team for 10 to 15 years. Red Bull team leader Horner also burst into tears, after 6 years, Red Bull finally ushered in the first world championship in the F1 hybrid era!
Verstappen's showdown with Hamilton is a confrontation between the "old king and the new king". After five red lights went out, Hamilton, who started with a neutral tire, showed his handling skills and completed the overtaking of Verstappen before entering Turn 1, but then the two almost collided in the first lap of Turn 6, Hamilton was forced out of the track by Verstappen in the fight, and returned from the buffer zone to the track, still in front of Verstappen, this small "friction" event officer did not say. For most of the game, Verstappen was suppressed by Hamilton, and did not create a decent opportunity, but teammate Perez staged a wonderful defense, which slowed Hamilton's lap speed by nearly 5 seconds, which bought verstappen valuable time to shorten the gap.
Towards the end of the race, Hamilton's lead on the track made the race almost out of suspense, while the decisive moment did not really come until the last 5 laps. Williams driver Rafiti was seen directly hitting the parapet in a fight with Mick Schumacher to trigger the yellow flag, and the large amount of debris on the track also forced the race to move a safety car.
But it was this accident that directly changed the outcome of the race. Led by the safety car, Hamilton's 12-second advantage was all cleared, at this time, Red Bull decisively summoned Verstappen to change the tire, mercedes team judged that the race may not resume, and rushing into the station may lose the top position, so it refused Hamilton's request to enter the station. At the critical moment, it was the FIA that decided to determine the direction of the race – the race officer decided to unset the snared car on the last lap and announced that the safe car would leave the race and restart, and the driver would decide the championship.
Red Bull and Mercedes also gave their respective views after the match. Red Bull manager Horner believes that "the game will make the right decision. "There is no rule that the slow car under the safety car cannot be reversed, and there is no need to wait until the slow car chases the team tail, and the race can be resumed." Mercedes made its attitude clear with its actions, appealing directly to the FIA after the race over the restart of the safety car and the unwinding process. Perhaps, the FIA's operation will become another famous controversy in F1 history, but the result of the competition has been completely changed.
As time passed by minute by minute, Verstappen completed the overtaking without suspense, hamilton, who was consumed by the tires, no way, no counter-overtaking, no kills, and this night, a new championship was born!
Controversy has always been part of competitive sports, but whether or not the FIA's maneuvering is appropriate, it can no longer change the outcome of the game. Hamilton was unfortunately runner-up after equalising points with three consecutive wins before the closing battle, but he also became the closest driver to surpass the record of "car king" Schumacher, an achievement that is also a proud achievement in itself, and Verstappen won the first drivers' championship of his career, leaving his own footprint in F1 history.
Of course, the FIA has somewhat fallen behind the "deliberate creation of a new king", such an ending may not be accepted by all audiences, but it is undeniable that the defense of desperately tearing for victory and betting on all determinations in pursuit of victory, the two drivers are the same. Next year F1 will usher in an unprecedented and huge technical rule change, perhaps Hamilton will regain its strength, or it may not be able to continue to rule, and in the tomorrow that no one knows, verstappen's prospects are equally unknown.
The Mercedes protest was rejected by the FIA
In the early morning of December 13, Beijing time, the FIA issued an official statement saying that Mercedes' appeal against sports rules 48.8 and 48.12 failed, and Verstappen confirmed to become the 2021 F1 World Championship Drivers' Championship. With 5 laps left in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a safety car was dispatched due to a crash by Williams driver Latifi, but with the last lap of the race remaining and some cars still not completely unsealed, the race officer announced that the safety car left the stadium and restarted the race, and finally Hamilton was overtaken by Verstappen on the last lap and missed the championship.
Mercedes immediately after the race appealed the restart of the safety car and the settlement process, the first complaint was about Verstappen's alleged overtaking under the safety car. According to the rules that "no driver may overtake other vehicles, including safety cars, on the track until the safety car has passed the first safety line", the Mercedes side believes that Verstappen has overtaken under the safety car. The event officer said that although Verstappen slightly overtook Hamilton at a certain moment, both cars were accelerating and decelerating, and that Verstappen's body did not surpass Hamilton's body when passing through the safety line, so the protest was dismissed.
The second complaint was about whether the race was suspected of not following the prescribed procedures for recalling safety cars. Mercedes said that according to the provisions of 48.12 in the F1 rules, after the snare car has been unset, the safety car needs to enter the next lap, but in this race the safety car is immediately returned to the maintenance area, so the team asked for the application of the 11.9.3h clause in the International Sports Law to correct the race results according to the position of the drivers at the end of the penultimate lap of the main race.
In response to the Mercedes team's appeal, the FIA argued: "In accordance with Rule 15.3, the race director is allowed to control the use of safety vehicles, which the race officer believes involves the dispatch and withdrawal of safety vehicles. In addition, the race officer believes that the purpose of Rule 48.12 is to avoid the leading car being affected by the lap car, and Rule 48.13 applies only to this race, that is, "if the signal that the safety car will enter the station is notified at the race, then the safety car must enter the station at this lap and the race will resume again". And the permission of this rule is higher than 48.12.
At present, the tournament officer has dismissed Mercedes's complaint. Following the FIA's announcement of the decision, a Mercedes team spokesman issued a statement announcing that the team would continue to appeal the outcome of the race arbitration. Under the rules, convoys can continue to file appeals within 72 hours.
Mr. Yang Zhonghua, |
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