The Formula One Winter break has, in my opinion at least, always been about excitement for what comes next. Counting down the days, looking forward to new cars being unveiled, the roar of the engines on the first day of the first test, the excitement to see what the new cars look like and our first glimpse of new driver line-ups. Not to mention the perfectly futile game during the first test of trying to figure out who might have the quickest car, or who might be the surprise package of the season.
This season however feels quite different. As is the case with most things in this day and age, the last race of the Formula One 2021 season has polarised (to say the very least) opinion, not just within the Formula One community but throughout the world. Despite 40 days now having passed since that infamous final lap of the final race, it seems that time has done little to help the dust settle and move on.
Personally, I’ve had to intentionally put Formula One very close to the bottom of my priority list since then. Only in the last few days have I felt ready to talk all things F1 again, hence me deciding to put my thoughts down in writing for the first time.
I want to make it clear before I go any further that I congratulate both Max and Red Bull on the 2021 drivers championship. Some of you will agree, some of you won’t, that’s life and it’s cool. But I personally feel that, regardless of whether we agree with the decisions, or the processes that lead to those decision that were made on that day, to have taken the result away from Max and Red Bull would have been hugely unfair to them and only have served to cause further damage, to Formula One.
That said, I also don’t think Lewis and Mercedes deserved to lose in the way that they did either. To have been denied the drivers championship in the manner that it was, was unforgivable. And when I say that, I speak as a fan of the sport (and if I must be pressed, a McLaren fan), not as a Lewis fan, nor as a Max fan. Let’s face it, some of the decisions throughout the 2021 season seem to have been focused on making the sport a spectacle, rather than enforcing the rules as written which should have been the case. The final race was, in my opinion an all too vivid embodiment of this.
I think if I were to sum up my feelings about that final race, even to this day, it would be to say that my overriding concern is that the decisions that were made, and the subsequent “justification” of those decisions by the FIA and the race stewards, didn’t just affect the 2 championship contenders right there and then. The decision to end a formula one world championship in the manner that it was, set a truly terrifying precedent as to where the sport is headed. I’m sure fans of Max (or any other driver for that matter) can acknowledge this given the fact that it could be their man on the receiving end of that kind of decision in the future if it’s allowed to continue that way.
It’s also hugely disappointing that the FIA have decided to drag their heals in the manner that they have with regards to the inquiry that was promised after the season had ended. I feel there is a real need for closure on the 2021 season before testing starts, which we will now obviously miss out on. One thing is for sure, there is a lot riding on the outcome of this inquiry and the FIA need to be very careful indeed as to how they go about trying to repair the undeniable damage caused by what happened.
I feel that it’s a real shame that the 2021 season had to end the way it did. The events in Abu-Dhabi completely overshadowed the utterly spectacular championship, with battles throughout the grid all season long, a few surprises along the way (McLaren only 1-2 of the season?!……….go home F1, you’re drunk!), Sprint’s that weren’t races but everyone agreed were races, and so much more!
However, whilst I understand why the events of last month for many sit in an as yet untreated, open wound, I truly feel that It’s time now to move on. Not least due to the obvious continued toxicity on social media platforms that seems to have refused to go away.
The way some journalists have been treated for offering their opinion, from either side of the fence, aswell as those who have sat firmly, impartially on it, simply reporting the news and trying to make sense themselves of what happened, is nothing short of frightening. When we look at general conversation, the picture, unfortunately, only gets worse.
Making sure that the direction and the integrity of the sport is rebuilt properly and fairly is essential, but for me, 2022 is just around the corner and although many questions do still need to be answered, it’s time now to stop the abuse and the bickering and turn our attention to the new season.
The 2022 Formula One Season will be a huge reset on track. Let’s do our bit off the track and do the same.