This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 27, 2021 - January 2, 2022
Rules are rules,” Mohammed ben Suleyman told Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time world champion boycotted the FIA’s annual awards ceremony in Paris. At best, it was a bit rich; at worst, it suggested the newly elected president might need a safety car to steer him through the hazards of the coming months. After all, it was the bending of the rules in Abu Dhabi five days earlier that turned Formula One’s crowning moment into its most rancorous furore.
And now, even though the season is over, Mercedes has dropped its appeal and Max Verstappen is confirmed as the new world champion, debate still rages well beyond the pit lane. Indeed, the drama at Yas Marina refuelled the argument as to whether F1 is a sport at all or just a Disneyfied entertainment for the Netflix generation.
Race director Michael Massi’s fateful decision to reduce the marathon 22-race season to a single 5.5km lap seemed to tip the scales toward the latter. A late crash by a back-marker had brought on the safety car which shrank Hamilton’s 11-second lead, but, had it stayed on, would have ensured him a historic eighth title.
No one in a high-octane sport like F1 wants to see a procession to the chequered flag, least of all a championship decider that had been hyped like no other. But as the wrecked Williams of Nicholas Latifi was removed, the worst-case scenario was unfolding: the eagerly anticipated climax was heading for dreaded anti-climax. Letdowns can happen in sport, but they are not something a scriptwriter would ever include.
This was not a script, of course, although you began to question that when Masi intervened. Apart from removing the safety car prematurely, he cleared the track of lapped cars between Verstappen and Hamilton so that there would be no impediment to a mano a mano finale. With the Dutchman having fresh tyres and Hamilton on old, worn rubber, it was advantage Red Bull, and so it proved.
Motor racing’s bible, Autosport, claimed “Masi played God in being the man who decided which way the championship went, as it depended entirely on that restart call.” It added: “What does not sit easy with a lot of people is the way that the rule book appears to have been overruled to make things happen.” Neither Masi nor FIA is accused of favouring one team, but the integrity of the sport was sacrificed for the “show must go on” Hollywood storyline. We didn’t want a parade, but that did not mean we had to have a charade.
To many, the less-than-divine intervention made the last lap compulsive viewing. The furious wheel-to-wheel spectacle on the track was given extra revs by the chatter between drivers and pitlane. And when the managers piled in on Masi — Red Bull’s Christian Horner in one ear and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff in the other — it was VAR on steroids.
It has been the human, as well as the hi-tech, aspect that is credited with boosting F1’s popularity. The fly-on-the dashboard docu-series, Drive to survive, has lifted it out of the doldrums of three years ago and captured a new audience. And whatever the rights and wrongs of that dramatic Arabian night of Dec 12, no one at Netflix is complaining.
But, as befits a sport renowned for in-fighting, opinions are divided on whether it was a broadcasting triumph or a sporting travesty. And the split is not just between the casual viewer and the petrol head purist. FIA, despite their stewards twice rejecting Mercedes’ arguments, promised an investigation, acknowledging that the events had “tarnished the image of the championship”.
F1 drivers have always risked having their leads erased by an untimely accident. But now, it seems, they face a kind of double jeopardy — being at the mercy of the race director too. This could set an alarming precedent if entertainment has become the priority.
So, Mercedes and Hamilton’s dominance was finally broken by a brilliant, young and marketable talent in Verstappen. Just 24, he had led the standings for much of the season until the Briton caught him at the penultimate race in Riyadh. Verstappen is a worthy champion but something stank, and Hamilton, 36, sniffed it. Speaking on team radio that was not broadcast on F1’s international feed, Hamilton said, “This race has been manipulated, man.” He was not alone in his suspicions.
Social media exploded and Mercedes’ appeals, with eminent QC Paul Harris making their case, went on for hours. The Silver Arrows were convinced they and Hamilton had been robbed but the stewards wouldn’t budge. Three days later, with Hamilton saying “I don’t want to win the title in court”, the car manufacturer withdrew its appeal — but not until FIA had agreed to look at their complaints.
Discontent had already been rumbling over inconsistent rulings which had undermined confidence in the governing body. This had consequences for owners, Liberty, too, with potential investors, like viewers, offering differing standpoints. One insider told the BBC that while some were impressed by the massive global impact, others were shying away from an organisation with a capricious relationship with the rules.
Racing is not cheap. According to Motorsport, it took US$459 million for Hamilton and Mercedes to win their seventh titles (drivers’ and constructors’) in 2020. But Wolff claims that “F1 has been an important contributor to the growth in value of the Mercedes-Benz company from US$31.9 billion in 2013 to
US$50.86 billion in 2021”. In October, the brand retained its place as the eighth most valuable in the world. With so much at stake, a more responsible approach from the governing body is a must.
The final Grand Prix of the 2021 season left the sport at a crossroads. While Verstappen is the man for the future, Hamilton enhanced his reputation with his sportsmanship and was made a Sir by the British crown: you might call him a knight in shining overalls. As for F1, it has boasted a 36% increase in followers on Facebook but has to decide which it wants to be: a sport or a part of the entertainment industry. Abu Dhabi showed it cannot be both.
Bob Holmes is a long-time sportswriter specialising in football
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