Welcome to the twenty second and final edition of my F1 driver POWER rankings list. I hope you enjoyed my previous edition after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but if you didn’t get around to reading it and don’t want any spoilers, you can find it here.
Sorry if this feels like too late to post about this now but I needed time to fully digest, reflect and settle on my feelings towards the final race of 2021. What a season its been and writing about it has given me a different way to experience and understand Formula 1. Thank you for being on the journey with me during my first season of writing things down, whoever or wherever you are and I hope it has, at the very least, given you something to pass the time.
It was never going to end smoothly, this season’s story wasn’t going to go out with a whimper. As you expect, I have my own opinion on the events in Abu Dhabi but I will get to that. Firstly, congratulations to Max Verstappen on winning his first World Championship. He does deserve to win the title this year, make no mistake about that. He has been mighty; consistant, brave, precise, decisive, resilient but most importantly really, really quick. He has shown that he can handle anything a title fight can throw at him. This was not a Mercedes vs Red Bull battle, the teams were evenly matched and evenly powerful, both having their advantages. This was a Hamilton vs Verstappen battle. Both drivers elevated themselves and pushed each other to a level I don’t think I have seen in my life. They dominated this championship completely and Max came out on top in the end.
The final 10 minutes of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 will live in the annuls of Formula 1 history forever. However, to understand my feelings towards the outcome, you need to look at the whole race. This was a championship decider on a level F1 has only seen one other time. No matter what had happened previously, the championship would be decided by who crossed the finish line at the end of the 58th lap first: Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. As with this season’s form, the two title rivals locked out the front row, but it was not on equal ground. The Red Bulls would both be starting the race on the soft tyre compared to the medium on the Mercedes. This was caused by Max Verstappen locking up in Q2 and flat spotting his medium set. The start reminded me of Abu Dhabi 2014 when Hamilton nailed the launch from 2nd to take the lead against Rosberg. This took away Red Bull’s tactical advantage of using the soft tyres to build a gap. You knew Max was going to try something straight away if he was overtaken at the start and he dutifully obliged at Turn 6 with a big lunge down the inside but one that I think Lewis left the space open to attack. Lewis turned in, was blocked by the Red Bull’s presence on the inside and drove over the run off area to get back on track. This is the first point of controversy. Hamilton keeps the position by going off track but he was forced there by a late lunge from Verstappen. This is also the first case of inconsistency from race control. In the final four races there have been two incidents of Verstappen perceivingly forcing both or one of the drivers off of the road, when defending the position but he received two different decisions – a penalty and a pass. This is why I think the decision there really could have gone either way depending on how the stewards felt at that time and in this race they were more relaxed because they felt that when Hamilton rejoined the track he established the previous gap between himself and Verstappen. Hamilton then worked to build an 8 second gap before shadowing Red Bull’s pitstop onto the hards on Lap 14 and 15 respectively. The gap was now stretching out towards 10 seconds before Sergio Perez did some great defensive driving to hold up Hamilton and close the gap to Verstappen to only 1.3 seconds. His driving was borderline slow but fine, he just made his car nice and wide. Once they dispatched the Mexican, Hamilton once again built a lead of around 8 seconds to Verstappen on the hards until Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo packed up and brought out the Virtual Safety Car. Mercedes decided to stay out and keep track position but Red Bull pitted Max for a new set of hards. This put Max 18 seconds back with just over 20 laps left to go. He needed 0.8 seconds a lap to catch back up. At the time, I thought Mercedes should have pitted Hamilton to give him the tyre advantage on a day where he was the quickest package out there, but after the initial chase of Verstappen the pace advantage the Dutchman had started to diminish as Hamilton kept his old hard tyres in condition while maintaining the lap time. The laps started to count down quicker than the gap until Hamilton held a 12 second lead with 5 laps to go. This is where the root of all my feelings lie – without Nicolas Latifi crashing at Turn 14, bringing out the Safety Car, Lewis Hamilton would have deservedly won the title decider, and therefore the title. Everything that transpired after that contradicts what I know deep down in my soul to be true – Hamilton deserved to win the race and, because of that fact, he deserved to win the F1 World Championship as well. I am not taking anything away from Max Verstappen, he deserved to the win title as well, but he did not deserve to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That is the wonderful contradiction of our sport; every single race matters in a championship but, sometimes, the last one means that little bit more.
Once the Safety Car came out it swung things back into Red Bull’s hands if the race were to restart. They pitted Verstappen in clear air for soft tyres while Mercedes couldn’t risk pitting and losing track position that late on with the possibility of the race not restarting. This pitted Lewis’s worn hards against Max’s new softs, not a completely done deal but a very large advantage. Now, to the second instance of race control inconsistency with a bit of confusion chucked in. As Latifi’s car was on the racing line and required marshals and a recovery vehicle, a Safety Car was warranted, no problem there. While I was marching around the house, muttering to myself like a madman, the safety car did it’s thing of slowing down the leaders and collecting the rest of the pack but the real sticking point would lie with the 4 lapped drivers in between Hamilton and Verstappen. Initially, they were told that they would not be allowed to overtake the safety car to unlap themselves which felt unusual but there is confusion over if that was just while the Latifi car was being removed. Following this, there must have been a couple minutes of frantic brokering from the Red Bull and Mercedes pitwalls to Race Control about if the race should restart and lapped cars etc etc. (I agree with Ross Brawn that this communication should not happen anymore) Race Control then instructed the lapped teams on the back straight, on Lap 57 of 58, that the 4 cars could now unlap themselves but also that the safety car was ending that lap. I have suffered through enough seemingly unnecessary extra final laps under the Safety Car in my life to know that this is a part of the Sporting Regulations and Michael Masi even confirmed that at last year’s Eiffel Grand Prix. This felt like Race Control wanting to get the action underway because it was the title decider. In any other race when the ‘cars unlapping’ rule has been in force, the cars have gone round one more time once the lapped cars have passed. Don’t get me started that not all the lapped cars were allowed to overtake. Is the championship points battle the only one that matters? Once again, if the cars had gone that extra lap and finished under the Safety Car, Hamilton would be Champion. I know, I realise that this conveniently gives me the result I support, but its the sudden change from normality that is hard to accept. But accept it we must. I would not want the decision to be changed in court and Michael Masi didn’t do anything directly against the rules so there is no real argument, its just the way it went down stings deep for the Hamilton camp. For Max Verstappen fans, this Safety Car and the subsequent overtake for the title were levelling of the score for bad luck on the Dutchman’s side earlier in the year and that it’s just the way she goes. Whatever side you sit on, at least we all agree that this season has been a privilege to watch and we are lucky to have witnessed it. It truly was the season the hybrid era needed before we go into another regulation change where it could all change once again, which I can’t wait for. That will be explained further in another post.
In non championship affairs, Carlos Sainz finished his strong first season at Ferrari with a podium and took fifth place in the Driver’s Championship above Norris and Leclerc. Yuki Tsunoda saved his best result to last and Kimi finished his career with a DNF. I’ll elaborate in the rankings so lets get into it.
After Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (22 of 22)
1. Max Verstappen (+1)
Max Verstappen is World Champion and I am sure it won’t be his last. He has driven brilliantly all year, despite some moments I disagree with him on, and didn’t back down to the challenge of battling Hamilton. The weekend was building nicely after being on the backfoot in practice and he took a surprise pole by over a quarter of a second. Once the race got going though, it seemed he didn’t have an answer to the pace of Hamilton and needed the intervention of others to help. He got this and then took his opportunity when it came, that’s what champions do.
2. Lewis Hamilton (-1)
What a heartbreaking way to lose a championship. Lewis Hamilton has had to suffer through a few of those in his career but this will probably feel the worst. He will be back next year, despite all the rumour, he is too much of a competitor to leave this fight with that outcome. He did everything in his control to win the championship in Abu Dhabi which should be a silver lining when the emotions die down, he still has the speed to go and try to win it again.
Carlos Sainz (+3)
This isn’t just last race bias, Carlos’ season has been bubbling away, showing consistant pace compared to his highly rated teammate throughout, whilst transitioning into one of the hottest seats in F1 better than other drivers changing teams with year. Abu Dhabi was the icing on the cake after a series of weekends that showed promise at times but didn’t come together. He qualified as the lead Ferrari in fifth which was quickly converted to fourth at the start as he flew back Norris into Turn 6. He was there to capitalise on the unreliability of Perez’s Red Bull to claim his third podium of the season and fifth in the Driver’s Championship, which is essentially best of the rest after the two championship teams. This gives him great momentum into the winter with a new set of regulations coming that Ferrari are banking on getting them back in the mix. Binotto is already talking about contract extensions which I think has been deserved and more.
4. Charles Leclerc (-1)
Charles was unfortunately another example of a Ferrari driver taking an early pitstop in an Abu Dhabi title decider and coming to regret it, frustrated in traffic. This time, the consequences were less severe but a tenth place did lose Leclerc his inter and intra team championship battles to drop from fifth to seventh. He just didn’t have the pace to get past the traffic to be in no mans land by the late safety car. He used that to collect one point but it wasn’t enough in the end.
5. Lando Norris (-1)
Lando can not catch a break at the moment. He was looking good for fifth before he had to pit late because of another slow puncture. This took away fifth in the championship for the young brit who really stamped his place in the F1 world this year. His consistent pace rewarded him with 20 points scoring finishes including four podiums and a whole lot of respect from fans worldwide. His final qualifying lap for third on the grid was a thing of beauty after being more towards the bottom end of the top 10 throughout the session. Its just another instance of Norris’ talent shining through the crowd.
6. Pierre Gasly (-1)
Pierre deserves to be in this group of elite youngsters making their way to the front of the F1 grid. He has been outstanding this season in the Alpha Tauri. He missed out on Q3 while his teammate made it and used the late safety car to move up to fifth for what must be the team’s best result of the season. Can Alpha Tauri give him the platform he needs to challenge for titles? I’m not so sure unless these regulations really do mix it up.
7. Sergio Perez (+2)
Sergio was the more effective teammate when it came down to it as he was able to get in the way and hold up Hamilton which would be crucial for giving Verstappen a chance to overtake later. Without losing the 8 seconds behind Perez, Hamilton would be have been able to pit after Latifi crashed and not lose position to Max. He hasn’t been able to get near Max at times but that is not what Red Bull really want from Perez, they want exactly what they got in Abu Dhabi, good teamwork to help Max win. Unfortunately, I don’t think he has the pace to beat Verstappen in a straight fight so that is what Red Bull is going to get.
8. Fernando Alonso (-1)
I think we can class Fernando’s return to F1 as a success. Another double points scoring finish in Abu Dhabi for Alpine with Alonso in front. His highlight being his first podium since 2014 in Qatar. I think if the car is half decent next year, Alonso could be dangerous, he is still one of the fastest out there.
9. Esteban Ocon (-1)
Despite a victory in Hungary, Esteban was beaten by his teammate in his first year back. However, as mentioned with the victory, it was a year of progress for Ocon and Alpine. He really looked strong the last couple of races but doesn’t quite get into that group of elite young drivers.
10. George Russell (-+)
Finally George can move over to Mercedes after a great three year stint at Williams, where he made that team relevant again. His Williams career unfortunately fizzled out with a retirement in Abu Dhabi but George’s career is about to rocket to another level in 2022.
11. Daniel Ricciardo (-+)
An overall disappointing year for Daniel as he got used to the 2021 McLaren but he did get back on the top step of the podium in Italy for the only 1-2 of the season. He never broke into the top 10 because he was just not consistant enough, he disappeared for large chunks of the year.
12. Valtteri Bottas (-+)
The final example of why Valtteri Bottas is no longer a Mercedes driver played out in Abu Dhabi. When Mercedes needed him, like Red Bull needed Perez, he failed to deliver, qualifying sixth and then was miles back in the race, leaving his teammate to be outnumbered without help. It feels like Mercedes tried not to hurt Valtteri’s feelings with their tactics in Abu Dhabi and it may have cost them. When it is all said and done, Bottas just wasn’t quite good enough in most areas, apart from in Austria and Russia.
13. Yuki Tsunoda (+2)
Yuki saved his best until last with a great fourth place finish and leading his teammate all weekend. This drive could well be a turning point for Tsunoda, both in his confidence and reputation within the paddock. His overtake on Bottas on the final alp was brilliant, he was so late on the brakes but there was no lockup or drama and he made the apex beautifully. It’s a shame the season ended for him, as he probably would have liked another race around Abu Dhabi. He just needs to do that every weekend to get on terms with his teammate. No mean feat.
14. Sebastian Vettel (-1)
Vettel and Aston Martin finished in Abu Dhabi where they have in the championship, it felt about right for them this year, in eleventh and thirteenth respectively. Vettel showed glimpses of past glory with some nice performances but this was mainly getting used to a new team so we will see what next year brings.
15. Lance Stroll (-2)
Similar to his teammate, it wasn’t a vintage year for Stroll and Aston Martin. He put in some good performances but the usual mistakes do haunt Stroll – as in Hungary – that stunt his growth up the grid with his team.
16. Mick Schumacher (+1)
A year where Mick Schumacher somehow increased his reputation within the paddock despite driving the slowest car on the grid by some margin and having a semi-amateur teammate. He will be Ferrari’s reserve driver in 2022 which I’m sure will only help his chances of a future seat. It does only feel like a matter of time before he is in a red seat if Mick keeps the performances up. My highlight for Mick was his Quali performance in Turkey where he outqualified his teammate by 2.5 seconds. Even in a crap car, that is mightily impressive.
17. Nicolas Latifi (-1)
Unfortunately, Latifi will forever be known for his role in the final laps of the season and the hate and abuse he has got online is completely unacceptable. Yes, you can be angry with what happened, but that gives you no right to send some of the abuse that Nicolas has received since. Did he do it on purpose? Obviously not. Will the abuse change the result? Obviously not, so lets just be kind to people. Something needs to be done about social media. Overall, a more promising year for Latifi where he scored points on multiple occasions and did push Russell at some events, even breaking the Brit’s long run of beating Williams’ teammates in Quali.
18. Kimi Raikkonen (-+)
We say goodbye to the Iceman and I am sure he is happy about that. It was a shame he didn’t have the car to impress late on in his career but he will leave a mark on the sport no other driver has so far. He was loved by everyone for being 100% himself throughout and being one of the most naturally gifted drivers of all time. Ice Man Out.
19. Antonio Giovinazzi (-+)
Kimi’s teammate’s F1 career also fizzled out as he also retired in Abu Dhabi. He just wasn’t consistent enough and blew most of his big points scoring chances with mistakes or team strategy error. While Binotto has suggested Ferrari will try and find him a seat for 2023, I think this is the last we will see of Gio in an F1 race seat.
20. Nikita Mazipin (-+)
Mazipin also raced this year but most of his action came with the issuing of blue flags, he saw 256 of them in 2021, 60 more than his teammate.
The Perfect Formula 