The crescendo climax F1 rarely enjoys

People love motorsport for plenty of reasons. The speed, the technology and its blend with human endeavour, the action - the bravery, the characters, the 'glamour'. For many, motorsport's ability to deliver the unexpected is what keeps them coming back. It's the cliche of all sport: unscripted drama.

The end of the 2021 Daytona 24 Hours had this on full display and at the same time nearly provided a useful example of 'peak-end theory', where an experience is judged mainly based on what it felt like at its peak. The long race, with the typical highs and lows of all motorsport, ended with Renger van der Zande's Cadillac closely pursuing the Acura of Filipe Albuquerque entering the final minutes.

A puncture brought van der Zande's chase to a devastating close, preventing a very late attack or even a final-lap pass - which would've capped the conclusion for which this race will likely be most remembered.

That last scenario is a rare thing in Formula 1. Of the 1035 races held so far in the world championship, only 26 times has a lead change occurred on the final tour, bringing a race to the ultimate last-gasp conclusion (although two of these include red-flagged races - the chaotic 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix and the tragic 1975 Spanish GP).

That works out as just 2.51% of all F1 races since Silverstone 1950 having such an ending - and these are detailed superbly in Roger Smith's reference book Formula 1 All the Races: The First 1000, which gives every F1 race a rating up to the 2019 Chinese GP.

For this writer, witnessing the end of 2019 Mexico City E-Prix stands as the most memorable example of this occurrence. There, Audi driver Lucas di Grassi triumphed after seizing the lead metres from the finish line as Pascal Wehrlein's Mahindra-run car hit 0% useable energy and suddenly slowed. That was a breathtaking finish, one which proved the potential of Formula E's race format rules.

It also harked back to some of F1's final-lap thrilling climaxes - such as the 1959 US GP. This was the second F1 example of a last-lap lead twist (the first was the 1954 French GP, see below), but at Sebring, Bruce McLaren claimed a sensational victory after team-mate Jack Brabham ran out of fuel - that season's champion in waiting eventually pushing his car over the finish line in fourth. To add to the drama, McLaren's margin of victory was just 0.6 seconds over a charging Maurice Trintignant.

The 2020 British GP was certainly memorable, even though it didn't feature a last-lap lead change, as the tyre blowouts enlivened an otherwise turgid event

The 1968 Belgian, 1970 British, 1977 French and 1978 South African GPs are further F1 examples of drivers losing the lead at the death with no fuel. In five more races reliability dictated a change in the order late in the day - beginning with the 1964 Belgian GP, a race Dan Gurney dominated before pitstop drama dropped him down, and then Graham Hill and McLaren suffered last-lap fuel system and battery problems (McLaren's within sight of what is now Spa's endurance start/finish line). Such events are altogether less prevalent in modern F1.

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Five others got a late winner through a staged finish - including Juan Manuel Fangio's formation finish at Reims in 1954. But a 'genuine' pass for the lead creates a different kind of climaxing drama altogether.

The first of eight cases in F1 history - which can also be split into five examples of an overtake and three of the leader at the start of the final lap losing P1 through a particular error (although the 2005 European GP was rather more than a driving slip) - was the 1961 French GP. In the end, Giancarlo Baghetti in the non-works Ferrari reclaimed the lead at the last in a swinging battle with Dan Gurney (after the dominant trio of works Ferraris had dropped out).

The 1982 San Marino GP will be forever remembered because the rancour that followed Didier Pironi ignoring orders from the Ferrari pits and overtaking Gilles Villeneuve, who then died in a shocking accident at the next GP at Zolder.

But, although the four most recent examples of this phenomenon had 'genuine' passes in battle or a leader succumbing to pressure (including Sebastian Vettel at the 2011 Canadian GP), they have become even rarer.

Up to the 1971 Italian GP, the percentage of finishes featuring a last-lap pass was 1.94%, but between then and the 2020 finale it is 0.48%. After the last Monza slipstreaming classic, where Peter Gethin took his sole F1 win with a last-lap pass on Ronnie Peterson and Francois Cevert, the next example of the lead changing on the final lap (we appreciate it's a stretch to call this a 'pass') was Fernando Alonso's relentless chase behind Kimi Raikkonen at the Nurburgring in 2005. In the end, staying out on flat-spotted tyres eventually forced Raikkonen's dramatic retirement.

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The most recent F1 race with a 'genuine' pass for the lead on the closing lap was the 2016 Austrian GP, where Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided, and the latter scooped the win. Since then, the closest F1 has come to a repeat was the 2017 race at the Red Bull Ring, where Max Verstappen deprived Charles Leclerc of what would then have been his maiden grand prix triumph with a pass three laps from the end at the same spot as the Mercedes clash (and the post-race penalty shenanigans at Montreal 2019 doesn't count).

It's interesting to consider this relatively rare phenomenon alongside accusations that F1 is not as exciting as it used to be - something not unique to the current era. We can see that such exciting finishes are not all that frequent, so it's just possible that the sensation of peak-end theory is behind the accusation in the first place.

At the same time, it should be noted that the season just gone featured thrilling late drama. Only twice - at the Austrian (where Hamilton had a five-second penalty still to be factored in) and Italian GPs - was there a gap of less than a second between the leaders. But the 2020 British GP was certainly memorable, even though it didn't feature a last-lap lead change, as the tyre blowouts enlivened an otherwise turgid event.

The drama of that final lap at Silverstone was palpable. That the excitement unleashed in onlookers didn't filter through to Mercedes' Pete Bonnington and Red Bull's Gianpiero Lambiase as they respectively called the hobbling Hamilton and charging Verstappen home is to their credit. That feeling, which the unexpected releases so wonderfully, demonstrates what sport can do to those that love it.

And right now, with the global situation so bleak for so many, that is something worth recalling and holding on to - escapism at its finest.

The last-lap lead change - which, for what it's worth, should not be created artificially - plays into the peak-end theory. The 2020 British GP 'peaked' - in excitement terms - on that final lap. It was an awful race overall but the last lap, and Hamilton's remarkable win, will be what is ultimately remembered.

F1 hasn't had the ultimate peak-end situation of a finale title decider since 2016 (and that event lacked the drama of Interlagos 2012). If the closer racing aims of the upcoming major rule changes increase the chances of last-lap lead changes and a better wins spread then it additionally boosts the chances of a closer title fight.

The peak-end sensation of a last-lap lead change of course doesn't mean a race has automatically been a classic. But remembering just how incredible motorsport can be, might be really helpful right now.