Much like life, the formula to success has no guaranteed returns at the end and this season of Formula One has been one of less guarantees and more unknowns.
The only certainty we have known - throughout this season - is that the red lights will go out and the drivers will dash for the line.
For the first time since 2016, the dominance of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton has been put to the test, right down to the wire. In scintillating fashion, the two pieces of silverware (drivers and constructors championship) were decided by the final lap, as Mercedes AMG and Red Bull Racing consistently locked horns right to the final chequered flag of the season.
The now iconic 2008 season comes to mind, where Lewis Hamilton appropriated the crown off Felipe Massa in the final lap of the final race in rainy Brazil to win the World Drivers' Championship by a point. Now, 13 years later, that drama unfolded in front of our very eyes again.
This time, it was Max Verstappen who snatched the baton from a hellbent Lewis Hamilton - concluding a season of many dramatic moments in mostly magical but dramatically enthralling fashion.
Nostalgia was a continuous theme this season, with the top two drivers going to Abu Dhabi level on points for the first time since 1974’s inseparable season.
OH! THE MEMORIES
Fresh in our minds will be Nicholas Latifi’s season-condemning crash on lap 52 of 58 in Abu Dhabi, no doubt earning the Canadian a lifetime supply of Red Bulls from Christian Horner. Verstappen flew into the barriers at Silverstone, having made contact with championship rival Lewis Hamilton during lap 1 of the British Grand Prix. In Baku, the Dutchman dramatically pinned himself against the wall, just five laps shy of the chequered flag, due to a left rear failure. At Monza, Max and Lewis were at loggerheads at turn 2, coming to a rest on top of one another with no other option but a double retirement.
How it happened?
Hamilton was exiting the pit lane on lap 26 of 53 when he exited alongside fellow protagonist, Verstappen, and the pair went side by side through the Variante del Rettifilo, eventually making contact, as Verstappen took to the skies before using the Mercedes chariot as a landing strip.
Both drivers earned themselves the ‘how did you manage that’ award.
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Samba magic, Lewis flair
Reminiscent of what we have come to see on a football field in the Samba nation, Hamilton went on to shine, against all odds in Brazil, defying penalties and grid demotions (for engine upgrades) as the rest of the field watched helplessly. Not even a wide-turning Verstappen - on turn 4 - could deny the Briton his memorable victory.
Sir Hamilton won the hearts of the Formula One faithful and perhaps an accolade for the most-hyped award, for doing the basics right.
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The best one yet
Who can forget the memorable maiden victory for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon? That race went down as one of the most thrilling Hungarian Grands Prix of all time, with Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) disqualified from a second-place finish as race officials could not extract the necessary fuel sample from his car. Hamilton recovered from being last to claim P3, as Verstappen could only manage P10 in a race that triggered a red flag at one stage.
Hungary, staking their claim for the season’s best race yet.
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Surprise, but well deserved
McLaren recorded their first victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix as Daniel Ricciardo blitzed a crash-marred race to claim a sensational win in Italy, and to make his nine-year-long wait for a podium finish even sweeter; Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl’s charges recorded an uncommon one-two finish with Lando Norris behind his Australian teammate.
In doing so, McClaren won the ‘who knew that was possible’ award for the season, closely contested by the Williams garage, which will not be last on the championship standings, for the first time in many seasons of the sport.
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Welcome back
The introduction of the Qatar Grand Prix and the Losail International Circuit to Formula One was given the royal seal of approval as Alpine's Fernando Alonso took his first podium finish in seven years. The Spaniard displayed some classic aggressive driving to survive a late charge from Sergio Perez, finishing third, his best outing since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Perhaps his work for Ocon at the Hungary race will go down as one of his finest efforts in recent times, reminding the racing world that good guys do win.
Alonso takes the season’s ‘nostalgic’ award. For inspiring a trip down memory lane for the sport’s older generation.
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SACRIFICIAL LAMB
Valterri Bottas has endured a torrid time. When things got bad, they really got bad for the Finn, whose last dance in Mercedes colours was impalpable, as he moves on to join Alfa Romeo in the coming season. He remarkably put the Hungarian race into a spin, annihilating a hapless front field to allow an unlikely victory on the day, for Ocon.
He has been unfortunate at times and just down-right bizarre at other moments. No matter how you look back at his last season with Mercedes, Bottas would comfortably win the ‘sacrificial lamb’ award.
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HOLLOW MIDFIELD
There is still a lot to be desired from the midfield. The promise of the Ferrari duo has failed to materialise into anything more than just the four podiums shared between them. Like the engraving on their wing, ‘Mission Impossible’ is what this season was for Scuderia fans. AlphaTauri’s Franz Tost had the ambitions of finishing fifth come the end of the season and once again, things have just not worked out quiet as planned for the Italian outfit.
McLaren will look back at the decision to go back to Mercedes-powered engines and recruiting Daniel Ricciardo, and wonder if they could have done with just one of those two key changes. Norris has impressed for the British garage, making podium on four occasions.
Outside Red Bull and Mercedes, only Ferrari and McLaren managed 200 or more points. Both Renault and AlphaTauri have just not measured up to what they promised.
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UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
The ‘crumbled cookie’ award goes to the FIA and Pirelli. Both organisations are crucial to the sport of motor racing and both have possibly shaped multiple outcomes this season, one way or the other. Both have seemingly done so at points in the heated contest for the championship that would have, could have, should have. It may be necessary to go back to the drawing board, more so for the governing body than the manufacturer.
BLAH BLAH PRINCIPLE
The passing of the baton is only natural, in any competitive environment. Even in the animal kingdom, there comes a time where the king is challenged and if he is not up to task, they are to vacate their throne.
In this sport, Lewis Hamilton is coming towards the end of his dominance. Even though the seven-time world champion would argue he can contest the title for another two seasons, everyone can see and accept that Max is here and impatient for what he deems his rightful place on the throne.
The on-track battle inspired a bitter feud between rival principals in Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing and Toto Wolff of Mercedes-AMG, adding more spice to an already enticing season. Both men, not shy to take necessary jabs at the other, went to war in the paddock drama.
This changing of power has definitely inspired a meltdown. One would assume that it would be inside the Mercedes garage, but Red Bull boss Horner has earned the award for the biggest meltdown in the history of the pit lane.
Even when his team was leading, Horner often made glaring remarks to the media, contradicting himself and often coming out on the other side looking clumsier than a damsel in distress.
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KNOCK KNOCK, ANYBODY THERE?
If there were an award for ‘Missing in Action’, it would have a lifetime plaque for the Haas Formula One team. This season, both the drivers have been underwhelming to say the least, with the American outfit failing to register a single point, thus claiming the ‘wooden spoon’ award for the season.
So long, Kimi…
For once, this season at least, racing fans united without doubt to send Kimi Räikkönen off in style. The Iceman walked away with the season’s last ‘driver of the day’ award, a fitting farewell to a legend of the sport. The Finn bowed out of the cockpit after 349 races, covering 54 000+ kilometres, amassing 1873 career points from 103 podiums. “Okay Kimi, we will leave you alone now,” thank you for the memories.
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Did you miss that?
This season, the ‘saving best for last’ award, deservedly goes to the often-temperamental and juvenile Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese rookie silently grabbed fourth place in the final dash of the season under Dubai lights, overtaking Bottas on the very last lap as a Christmas gift for AlphaTauri, who chose to retain Tsunoda for next season.
THE PERFECT SEND OFF
Verstappen’s championship was a befitting farewell to Honda, as the engine manufacturers bow out of the sport, having rejuvenated fun, action and most importantly, competitive driving back into the sport.
The 2021 season will remain one of the most exciting and memorable seasons in a long while. Whether you are a fan of Max or Sir Lewis, Horner or Wolff, Mercedes or Red Bull, or you simply watched the sport because of ‘Drive to Survive’, one thing we can all agree on; this was the sort of farewell we could have wanted for this generation and design of cars.
The edge-of-your-seat type of racing could not come from any series on television and this season had the best drama on offer.
One thing is certain; this last season of Formula One as we know it has been a gripping spectacle for fans. 2022 will usher in new cars and new designs, with an expanded calendar as the sporting body seeks to globalise the reach of the electrifying sport. A return to normality we hope, visiting some of the places we have missed over the last two years.
This season, the biggest winner was not the winning team or either of the top two drivers. It is not ‘Vive Max’ or ‘Vive Monsieur Hamilton’ that will remain on the tip of our tongues, but simply, ‘Vive le Motorsport, Vive Formula One’.
