FIRST of all, a few words of consolation and perspective for British motorsport fans.
If and when Lewis Hamilton does win a record eighth world title, it will feel all the sweeter for this epic defeat.
His rivalry with Max Verstappen — which had already resurrected interest in Formula One with huge swathes of non-believers — will only intensify after the drama and controversy in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Those new devotees, or the many lapsed F1 fans lost to the sport during years of grinding predictability, will be glued to the action when Hamilton, 36, bids to regain his crown next season.
Oh, and at least Ginger Spice got what she wanted — what she really, really wanted.
Geri Halliwell, wife of Red Bull’s British team principal Christian Horner, may not have been wearing her Union Jack mini-dress, as she was rooting for the young Dutch tearaway Verstappen.
But F1 needed Horner and his team to strike a blow against the dominance of Mercedes and Hamilton.
They did that from the second race of the season, when Verstappen, 24, won in Italy, until the ridiculous mayhem of the very last lap of the winner-takes-all contest.
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Hamilton won’t see it that way. At least not unless and until he wins that record title No 8.
But his reputation, as a driver and a man, has probably been enhanced more this season than in any of his seven title-winning years.
Great sport thrives on great rivalry and Hamilton-Verstappen is threatening to become a truly outstanding one – all it needs now is longevity.
When Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher with his seventh title last year, I argued that, if we were to decide the argument logically, then he simply has to be regarded as the greatest British sportsman of all time.
No other competitor from these islands could genuinely claim to be the greatest of all time in a major sport.
The counter-argument, generally from those with little interest in F1, was that the superiority of Hamilton’s car made his dominance almost inevitable and reduced worldwide interest.
That’s why Verstappen’s victory, in the long run, may only add to the might of Hamilton’s legacy.
He was already the first black driver to compete in his elitist sport, which in itself made him hugely significant.
In his early days, though, it was easy to regard him as cold, robotic and part of a corporate machine.
But over the past couple of years, in particular, Hamilton has found an authentic and powerful voice on wider social issues — on racial equality, human rights and environmentalism.
This has seen him speak out, time and again, against old-school attitudes and vested interests within his sport.
Those who prefer to ignore such issues will sneeringly refer to him as ‘woke’.
Those who do care, regard him as bold and significant.
Already knighted by the establishment, Hamilton is now respected by the anti-establishment too. Next, then, to that eighth crown.
Hamilton turns 37 next month and still has two years left on his Mercedes contract.
Losing and then regaining a title so often earns many more plaudits than winning remorselessly.
Next season, with new rules, the level of competition is likely to intensify.
As thrilling as this two-horse race has been, competition promises to be wider.
And Hamilton can also use a genuine sense of injustice to fuel him due to the manner of Verstappen’s victory.
Of course, Red Bull needed a miracle in Abu Dhabi, as Horner himself admitted ten laps out from the chequered flag.
They got just that when back-marker Nicholas Latifi crashed out just in time for the safety car to come and go and for a final-lap tear-up.
Yet fortune did favour the brave. Red Bull gambled on a second and third pit stop. Verstappen overtook Hamilton early on that last lap.
And as race director Michael Masi put it when challenged by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff on his apparent ripping up of the rulebook: “Toto, it’s called a motor race, OK . . . we went to car racing.”
It was a nice line from Masi — one which played to the sporting instincts of a worldwide audience.
Nobody wants a major sporting event settled by rules-is-rules jobsworths.
But was it fair? A final lap between one on fresh tyres and another needing an urgent appointment with a KwikFit fitter was hardly an even contest.
Yet had the season finished with Hamilton winning behind a safety car, many might not have felt so compelled to tune in next season.
There had been controversy on the opening lap too — Verstappen feeling hard done-by on that occasion, Horner vowing not to get mad but get even.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez held up the Brit with some excellent defensive racing when the Mexican briefly held the lead before pitting.
Then, as Hamilton led for the majority of the race, he sounded increasingly jittery and nervous on the team radio.
It was the ultra-professionalism of an experienced driver, whose mind was racing as rapidly as his car, going through every potential eventuality — until Latifi crashed and Masi made his call and all of his fears felt justified.
Now the Brit must use all of that professionalism and experience to seize back his crown.
And the size of the audience, as well as the depth of the adulation, will be far greater if he wins an eighth title.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
