Formula 1 has done phenomenally well to organise a 17-round championship in a pandemic, the largest crisis the global community has faced since the Second World War.
And we should all be grateful for that achievement and for the return of Formula 1, and sports, after three months when there was nothing. When all we had were re-runs, ‘best of’ clips, or virtual entertainment.
But the rules reset in 2022 cannot come soon enough for a series that has become frustratingly predictable for the hardcore fans, unappealing for the casual viewers, and even annoying for the drivers. And perhaps predictably the rain started falling early in the evening before intensifying, as teams packed up their equipment to head to Monza.
That is not to take anything away from the performance of World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who was at his imperious best to take win number 89 of his career. He did what he is employed to do. Hamilton has had Ferrari to play with at Spa-Francorchamps in recent years but with the Prancing Horse put out to pasture this season he was left untroubled up front. Valtteri Bottas is not in his league. Max Verstappen might be but lacks the equipment to regularly trouble Hamilton.
Hamilton is already 47 points clear of Verstappen atop the standings. If he continues like this he will be 114 clear by Abu Dhabi, and perhaps champion as early as Turkey. He has never won a title before the antepenultimate round, and has never been this far ahead after only seven races. In fact, this is only the third time in the hybrid era that he has even fronted the standings as this stage of the season. His previous best was behind 29 clear of Bottas last year.
Up front the top four maintained positions, with the first real fight being for fifth, as Esteban Ocon eventually passed Alexander Albon, having lost out in the pits. At Barcelona a processional affair is expected but at the majestic Spa-Francorchamps a soporific grand prix almost feels insulting to the track itself. Even then, the only incident of note almost had dire consequences, given the way Antonio Giovinazzi’s car was spat into the racing line and his wheel into the path of George Russell. We all adore the venue but some of the run-offs and barrier alignments surely need evaluating, even accounting for the geographical and topographical limitations in the Ardennes.
It is not the drivers fault that the racing is like this, with the regulations having evolved to this point, leaving Class Mercedes, Formula Verstappen, the top midfield, and the backmarkers in their own windows, barring left-field interventions such as a Safety Car, rain or strategic blunders. Pirelli, too, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Two-stop strategies are the ideal outcome but if a one-stop is within reach, even if it means drivers cruising and backing off, then that is what the teams will advise. Pirelli has to produce tyres on which everyone wants maximum entertainment, maximum speed and at 15 (or usually 22) different venues with their own requirements and nuances. That’s a tough gig.
“It was not really an enjoyable race, especially at the end, the last laps with so much vibration and understeer,” said Verstappen. It’s not really exciting. “It’s a shame. It’s such an amazing track and then you can’t really push. It was boring. We did 44 laps so I probably did like 38 of them managing a lot. It’s not been the most exciting today.”
“It’s not particularly exciting, as Max said, but it’s a medium and high-speed circuit, so a lot of force goes through the tyres,” explained Hamilton. They allow us to do these one stops. We’d lose too much time in the pit stops. It wasn’t too exciting to have to manage. It’s not something I particularly enjoy, you want to be able to attack and push push push push push, do a stop, push push push push push.”
“I hope that people need to hopefully understand that this isn’t our fault. At the end of the day we’re drivers, we’ve come through all the ranks, we’ve earned the positions that we have and we come in weekend in, weekend out, devoted and give absolutely everything to go out there and perform at our best. Ultimately the decision makers who design the cars, who set rules and those kind of things, are the ones that you could apply pressure to to ultimately do a better job moving forwards, if that’s possible.
“I’m hopeful that’s what they’re going to do in 2022 and with that new type car, maybe we’ll see a different form of racing where you can follow. Wouldn’t that be something if we can follow closer and have more close races?”
The reset of the regulations for the 2022 season cannot come soon enough.
