One race to go: predict the champion
After 21 races of an intense title battle, it has all boiled down to the last race. Not only that, but incredibly, the two title protagonists, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, have exactly the same number of points, with Verstappen ahead on a tie-breaker. It is the first time since 1974 that this has happened (Emerson Fittipaldi beat Clay Regazzoni with a fourth place that year). This happens every year in NASCAR, but that is artificial to make the final race more exciting, and often gives unworthy champions. This time, it has happened by luck as the title contenders are so evenly matched. As a neutral, I have said a few times this season that this was one of the greatest of all time, and would be the greatest if we got a fantastic title finale. And it looks as though we will get that. The two have collided three times this season, in Silverstone, Monza and Jeddah, and have also had close, often controversial scraps in Bahrain, Imola, Spain, France,
Zandvoort and Brazil. Both have been very critical of each other, as have Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. It has been the most intense of title finales, and going into the final race, who do you think will come out on top. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes appear to have the upper hand at the moment, with better form and seemingly the faster car, but last season Abu Dhabi was the only race where Red Bull were genuinely faster than Mercedes, so it could go either way. At the moment, I think Hamilton is the narrow favourite, so my vote goes to him. But I've no idea who I'll be rooting for in the finale. Generally, I prefer Hamilton and Wolff to Verstappen and Horner, but something doesn't feel right to me about Hamilton overtaking Schumacher for drivers' titles, or Mercedes matching McLaren for constructors' titles (this will probably happen anyway as Bottas is ahead of Perez in the points). And I feel that Max Verstappen and Red Bull deserve it more as they have had more bad luck, losing a win in Baku, and probable second places in Silverstone and Hungary through (almost) no fault of their own. At the BTCC finale in 2019, I kept changing my mind over whether I was supporting Turkington or Cammish, and that made the finale even better, so hopefully the same will happen. Hopefully it will not be settled on a controversial incident, but after Saudi Arabia, that seems very possible. This video is from the season 2 Formula e finale with Buemi and di Grassi when they were level on points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0dXAb9p8io
and I fear we may have a repeat. One race to go in perhaps the greatest season of all time, who will win the championship?
Zandvoort and Brazil. Both have been very critical of each other, as have Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. It has been the most intense of title finales, and going into the final race, who do you think will come out on top. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes appear to have the upper hand at the moment, with better form and seemingly the faster car, but last season Abu Dhabi was the only race where Red Bull were genuinely faster than Mercedes, so it could go either way. At the moment, I think Hamilton is the narrow favourite, so my vote goes to him. But I've no idea who I'll be rooting for in the finale. Generally, I prefer Hamilton and Wolff to Verstappen and Horner, but something doesn't feel right to me about Hamilton overtaking Schumacher for drivers' titles, or Mercedes matching McLaren for constructors' titles (this will probably happen anyway as Bottas is ahead of Perez in the points). And I feel that Max Verstappen and Red Bull deserve it more as they have had more bad luck, losing a win in Baku, and probable second places in Silverstone and Hungary through (almost) no fault of their own. At the BTCC finale in 2019, I kept changing my mind over whether I was supporting Turkington or Cammish, and that made the finale even better, so hopefully the same will happen. Hopefully it will not be settled on a controversial incident, but after Saudi Arabia, that seems very possible. This video is from the season 2 Formula e finale with Buemi and di Grassi when they were level on points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0dXAb9p8io
and I fear we may have a repeat. One race to go in perhaps the greatest season of all time, who will win the championship?