Verstappen's victory in the Yaz Marina Grand Prix will go down in history as one of the most controversial races ever in Formula 1. With the championship to play for, Hamilton drove a flawless race from the outset, gaining the lead before the first corner from second place on the grid. He led the entire race, but the race and his eight championship was stolen from him in the penultimate lap by a terrible decision from race control.
Nicholas Latifi had crashed five laps from the end, bringing out the safety car. Hamilton had passed the back-markers while Verstappen had not. Verstappen used the safety car to come in for a fresh set of soft compound ties but Mercedes decided to leave Hamilton out on a worn set of hards. With the safety car having eliminated Hamilton's twelve second lead over Verstappen, he might yet have won had Verstappen had to pass the back markers, although the odds were now very much in Verstappen's favor.
But race director Micheal Masi's inexplicable decision to let the back-markers past the safety car handed Verstappen his victory on a silver platter. With no gap between him and Hamilton and on a fresh set of softs to Hamilton's completely warn hards, it was a given that Verstappen would pass Hamilton on that last remaining lap.
Was Red Bull's strategic decision making better than Mercedes' more cautious approach? Perhaps. But in the end, without the good fortune of allowing Verstappen to clear the back-markers under the safety car rather than under race conditions, that strategizing would have been moot. Sadly, it was a bitter end to a great season or motor racing.
No comments:
Post a Comment