Verstappen passed Hamilton on the final lap and took his first F1 title

Max Emilian Verstappen has always carried high expectations on his back. Whether it was for following the same path as his father, who projected on his son the chance to conquer his frustrated dreams, or for having been treated like a prodigy in F1 since his debut in the category, in 2015.

But, at the age of 24, the Red Bull driver proved this Sunday (12), with a thrilling victory, with overtaking on the last lap, that the optimistic predictions about his future were not unreasonable. By winning the Abu Dhabi GP, he surpassed the British Lewis Hamilton, from Mercedes, and became the first Dutchman to win the Worlds.

He is the 34th driver in history to name his name among champions. And it achieved the feat in one of the fiercest seasons in F1 in recent years, with an appropriate ending: emotion until the very last moment.

The champion finished the season with ten wins, against eight for the rival. There were also more poles, ten to five. But the rivals arrived in the UAE tied, with 369.5 points each. The account on the Yas Marina circuit was basically this: whoever got ahead would be the champion.

Verstappen held pole position, but lost the lead to the champion early on. He tried to retrieve it on the first lap, and the two touched. To avoid an accident, Hamilton left the track and, in his rival’s view, cut a path without making a turn. Despite the complaint, the commissioners decided not to impose any punishment.

Even with medium tyres, in theory less fast than the Dutchman’s soft ones, the Briton was opening up an advantage. On his way back from his first pit stop, he had some difficulty overtaking Sergio Pérez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, who played a team game and delayed his stop precisely to delay the Englishman.

Once this difficulty was overcome on the 21st of 58 laps, Hamilton was opening up again. The scenario was very favorable for him until the entry of the virtual “safety car”, on lap 36. With the cars at reduced speed, Verstappen made its second stop and put on new tires. Mercedes preferred to keep the leader on the track, giving up the second stop and leaving him with worn tires.

When the race was restarted, on lap 38, the difference between first placed Hamilton and second placed Verstappen was 17 seconds. The Dutchman, then, had a better car, with tires in much more favorable conditions, and 20 laps to clear the distance.

The English did their part well and held a safe advantage. Then, another unforeseen event: Canadian Nicholas Latifi crashed heavily, and the “safety car” entered the track, which allowed Verstappen to pull over. The track was only cleared with one lap to go. With the car more whole, the Dutchman made the overtaking and the celebration of the title.

Since 2016, when German Nico Rosberg was champion, no one had been able to challenge Hamilton’s dominance, who piled up four titles in a row, becoming seven times champion.

The balanced dispute with the Briton further enhances the achievement of Verstappen, a driver who carries motorsport in his DNA. Son of Jos Verstappen, an average former F1 driver, and Sophie Kumpen, a renowned kartist, Max sat for the first time in a car of the category when he was just one year old, when he took a picture in his father’s Benetton.

His talent, however, would be forged with much less pleasant episodes, especially by Jos’ hard-line. As he never managed to be a top competitor, the former driver who had two third places as his best results wanted to make his son the winner he was not.

On the tracks, Verstappen’s father used to be a strong-willed driver and not infrequently got involved in accidents. With Max, he was much more demanding. To the point of abandoning her son on the way home after he lost a kart championship.

“Nothing can be worse than what I experienced at that time”, recalls the pilot. “But I also made a big mistake in losing that world championship. In a way, it was good, because that made me a tougher person.”

Situations like this made the Dutch believe that self-confidence was the most important thing for him to become a winner. He takes this to heart that he claims he has no idols in the sport, not even his father or father-in-law, Brazilian Nelson Piquet, three-time F1 champion.

Before the São Paulo GP, in November, Verstappen’s girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, took him to visit her father’s house in Brasília. According to the driver, they didn’t talk about F1 or motorsport. “I don’t need advice,” he stated.

Much more than with words, however, it is on the tracks that the Dutchman likes to prove his confidence. In the dispute with Hamilton, he was never intimidated by facing a seven-time champion.

The Brit himself stated that this was the toughest championship he has ever played, acknowledging Verstappen’s talent. In the paddock, the Dutchman is revered by most riders on the grid, especially for his rapid rise in the category.

In 2016, when he was just 18 years old, he took his first victory in F1 right on his debut as a Red Bull driver, at the Spanish GP, where he became the youngest ever to win in the category, aged 18 years 7 months and 15 days.

From there until the world title seemed a matter of time for the prodigy. In the last two seasons, 2019 and 2020, when Red Bull was already struggling to close the gap to Mercedes, Max finished third at the Worlds, getting the most out of his car.

All he needed was a machine that would allow him to be on an equal footing with the drivers of the German team. In 2021, he had that and confirmed expectations about his talent.