One year on and F1 still haunted by ghosts of Abu Dhabi

The Red Bull team celebrate Max Verstappen's controversial victory at the 2021 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. AP Photo

One year on and the ghosts of Abu Dhabi 2021 still haunt Formula One ahead of the final race of the season.

Time has not dulled many of the passions that ran rampant through one of the most controversial episodes in the sport’s colourful history.

Max Verstappen took the title from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp after race director Michael Masi allowed only five drivers to un-lap themselves in the closing stages of the season finale.

The fallout has certainly been pervasive, from the dismissal of Masi, the key race official that day, to Mercedes driver Hamilton, the sport’s biggest star, admitting he considered retirement and even that it led to the rewriting of key elements of the racing rule book.

Maybe they even powered the wind of change that saw Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed ben Sulayem voted into power as president of the FIA, motor sport's ruling body, just five days later.

Whichever side of the argument you are on, AD21 may have been television gold but it was a huge own goal for F1.

Critics worldwide compared it to doping and race fixing. Fans were, and some still are, furious. When governance fails what is left?

So where does the sport sit a year down the road? Well, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

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  Race winner and 2021 F1 world champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing team celebrate on the podium after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on December 12, 2021. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen fought off Lewis Hamilton in a nail-biting finish. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen runs to celebrate with his team. Victor Besa / The National

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  The Dutch driver clinched the race and the championship on the final lap. Victor Besa / The National

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  Race fans cheer as Verstappen wins. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen enjoys that winning feeling. Reuters

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  Verstappen drinks in the moment as Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton looks dejected after finishing second. Reuters

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  Verstappen and Hamilton go head to head on the track. Victor Besa / The National

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  An Etihad Airways flyover before the race. The airline sponsored the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen in action. Victor Besa / The National

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  Hamilton took an early lead. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen and Hamilton led the championship going into the final race. Victor Besa / The National

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  The start of the race. Reuters

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  Drivers pose for their end-of-season picture before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. AP

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  Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel before the race. Reuters

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  Fans of Verstappen and Hamilton before the race. Reuters

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  Hamilton looks relaxed before the race. Reuters

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  Verstappen looks like he means business. Reuters

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  Hamilton soaks up the early atmosphere. Victor Besa / The National

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  Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas with his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell. Victor Besa / The National

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  Verstappen arrives at the circuit with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet. Reuters

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  Hamilton on the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP

One of the first major decisions seemed eminently sensible but proved unworkable. Dividing the sport’s toughest job between two people became a case of "too many cooks".

Masi’s replacements, Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich, failed to achieve the consistency drivers ached for.

If you were fined for an infraction one weekend it should be the same a race, or a year, later. If an action was allowed today it is allowed always. But in reality it proved elusive.

The season’s simmering discontent came to a head in Japan, in October. In a massive FIA blunder, drivers were sent on the track in blinding spray in exactly the conditions that had led to Jules Bianchi's death eight years before. Had the FIA learnt nothing?

It was without doubt a far more heinous crime than any committed in Abu Dhabi. After a review the race director on the day, Freitas, was quietly sidelined and Wittich given sole charge, backed by F1 veteran and all-round wise owl Herbie Blash in one of the best moves of the entire year.

A VAR-style video system was set up to help with decision-making.

One of the FIA’s first wins had been a battle of wills with drivers over banning jewellery in the cockpit.

FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem. Reuters

Seemingly minor it was a fundamental safety issue which Ben Sulayem, to his credit, refused to drop when faced with an uproar from petulant pilots.

But the biggest test of his presidency came when Red Bull were found to have broken the sport’s cost-cap rules. After the FIA’s initial prevarication, its $7 million fine and 10 per cent loss of development time hit just the right note.

Even so, last year’s events at Yas Marina Circuit clearly remain an open wound for some. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, usually the most reasonable of men, launched a distasteful attack on Masi: “Human error or error human. I haven't spoken to him and I don't want to speak to him ever again.”

His call weeks later for “open-mindedness” rang a little hollow.

Even Hamilton, who lost out on a record eighth title that day, was more conciliatory.

“It was just bad decision-making. I’m sure there is ego involved and then there are also the moving parts. There’s people speaking into his ear. I don’t feel like it was particularly targeted.”

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  Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen celebrates after his victory at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, a victory that ultimately ensured he retain his drivers' world title. AFP

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  Max Verstappen poses with the trophy on the podium following his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix. AFP

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  Max Verstappen celebrates with his team after winning the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Red Bull's Max Verstappen crosses the line to win the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Red Bull's Max Verstappen in action during the Japanese Grand Prix. Reuters

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  Max Verstappen leads the race after a restart during the Japanese Grand Prix. EPA

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  Max Verstappen competes during the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. AFP

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  Max Verstappen leads the race after a restart during the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka. EPA

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  Max Verstappen leads Ferrari's Charles Leclerc during the Japanese Grand Prix. Getty

But there does continue to be a fundamental weakness in a beleaguered and under-manned FIA system.

Following confusion over the allocation of points in the wet race in Japan which initially turned Verstappen’s championship victory into a farce, the FIA they were at fault.

Meanwhile, the FIA continues to find it difficult to strike the right balance between fairness and over regulation.

Ben Sulayem acknowledged as much on Tuesday with the unveiling of RDDP, a system of rolling review of race incidents and decisions to improve both the process, the decisions and the people who make them.

Having started his presidency at logger heads with it’s primary force, Mercedes, Ben Sulayem will no doubt be pleased to hear this from Wolff: “There is the eagerness to learn and analyse it. What I take as a positive is the strong governance.”

So, after one of the most turbulent years of recent times relative calm has been restored, well mostly, so Ben Sulayem and the FIA get an A minus. Good work, but could do better.