If another crash happens, this is what’s expected…
Here we are at the last race of the 2021 season of Formula 1. A very exciting challenge for the World Drivers’ Championship is commencing as the title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are levelled on points – 369.5 to be exact.
As the whole season demonstrated, Max Verstappen and Red Bull has the upper hand and Verstappen can take his maiden title to become the first ever Dutch driver who won a championship. However, the season’s underdog Lewis Hamilton proved once again in the last couple of races, what it meant to have the experience of a driver working in the sport for 14 years. If you already decided which driver can take the history making title, don’t wait around to find the best odds for your choice, just open an original Pinnacle accountwith a betting service without limits and enjoy betting on the “pinnacle of motorsports”!
Last ride for some of the drivers
Driver movements took place in mid-season and while some of them were expected to happen for a long time, some were very shocking and saddening. Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Haas, Aston Martin, Alpine and Alpha Tauri have decided to keep the same driver line-ups for the next season.
After Kimi Raikkonen announced his retirement, Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas decided to try his chances with another team and replaced his fellow countryman. A very exciting news for the fans was George Russell’s movement to the Mercedes team that pairs him with Lewis Hamilton. His seat was filled with Alex Albon and lastly Guanyu Zhou replaced Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, making him the first Chinese full-time F1 driver in the world.
Expectations
The whole season has been a nail-biter for the fans who are following. Last time when the championship contenders were levelled on points was way back in 1974. This has been a first in a long time after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ended with Lewis Hamilton’s victory.
Now there is another first that might happen in this last race. Most of the fans predict Max Verstappen to crash into Lewis Hamilton so that he can have the championship!
According to FIA’s countback rules, if drivers are levelled on points, then championship would go to the one who had the most wins in the season. This season Max Verstappen has 9 wins in his pocket and Lewis Hamilton has 8. Any scenario making them finish out of points or retire means Verstappen will be the champion.
This is not new in the Formula 1 world. We have seen in 1989 and 1990 that Ayrton Senna crashed into Alain Prost to secure his championship. Not just for a championship scenario but we have also seen the same thing happen to get the second place in the championship. In 1994 Michael Schumacher pushed Jacques Villeneuve out of the track and he has been deducted points for it.
This is also why race director Michael Masi warned drivers to refrain from any unsportsmanlike actions or sporting code violations otherwise race stewards have the right to implement harsher penalties such as point deduction or race ban.
FIA’s decisions on the last couple of races have been very questionable as we have witnessed in the hectic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This is why most fans are expecting to see a clean race where no one else besides the drivers could determine the outcome. No matter how the circumstances go, we wish for the best one to win!