How Abu Dhabi’s finale helped F1 transcend its normal news cycle

The Formula 1 bubble has, historically, posed as a parochial environment at the best of times. Its biggest stories – surprise driver transfers, on-track controversies and crashes – have rarely transcended anything other than the specialist news sites and the sports pages of the national papers.

Although Netflix’s Drive to Survive has pushed F1 more towards the mainstream, it’s still rare to see any kind of motorsport receive top billing in national news stories. That’s what makes the aftershock of 2021’s Abu Dhabi season finale so seismic.

The final five laps of the race - as it arrived at a crescendo worthy of an orchestral masterpiece - and the following decision to part the waves to allow the five lapped cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to pass the safety car dominated social media. Moreover, the controversy and impact of events at Abu Dhabi constricted a swathe of news channels and suffocated the pipeline with the fallout.

BBC World News journalist Ros Atkins, who has been kept busy with relaying accounts of governmental rule-breaking over British COVID restrictions, delivered his own version of events as they unravelled in the Emirati desert. It’s rare to see F1 so firmly fixed in the public gaze.

That extended to social media. Most of Twitter's real estate concerning F1 is held by the travelling fraternity of journalists, employees who offer insights from within the paddock, and the occasional commenter who went viral two years and hopes to relive those halcyon days of an inbox full of notifications. But non-F1 figures commanded the Twitter space with their own inflamed views on proceedings at the 2021 season’s climax.

1986 World Cup Golden Boot winner and crisp enthusiast Gary Lineker added his own sprinkle of flavouring into the debate, likening the late change of heart over the lapped cars under the safety car rule to a sudden penalty shootout.

The Safety Car Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, the rest of the field

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Imagine Man City and Liverpool going toe to toe for the title,” Lineker tweeted. “On the last day of the season they meet & City are 3 up with just minutes to go. The referee decides it would be more exciting to have a penalty shootout. What’s more the City players have to be barefooted. That’s F1.”

That’s not to say Lineker is a stranger to F1, given he’s spoken of his admiration of Lewis Hamilton’s achievements before, but goes to show the far-reaching impact of F1’s title finale. Further celebrities of varying profiles outside of the realms of motorsport, including Samuel L. Jackson, Harry Kane and, erm, DIY SOS's Nick Knowles all shared their thoughts too; there was one story in town on Sunday night, and it’s one that, for once, we’re well-versed in.

One should also spare a thought for the F1 fan in WhatsApp groups around the world, as they’ve had to provide ‘too lazy; didn’t read’ quick-fire explanations of events to their non-F1 watching friends in layman’s terms. Your service has been very much valued, even if you’re mocked relentlessly by the same friends for being out of action on at least 22 weekends of the year.

There are many other examples of “all publicity is good publicity, until it isn’t”, and that’s a warning F1 must heed as it seeks to define what it is heading forward

Regardless, it’s not up to this writer to draw links between the rise of Drive to Survive and the drama that ensued in the 2021 season finale. Although Lando Norris stated after the race that the U-turn decision to let some of the lapped cars pass was "obviously made to be a fight, it was for the TV", one will attempt to resist the draw of cynicism. But it cannot be argued that the by-product of Sunday’s race and its aftermath will not make a thrilling climax to Netflix’s hugely successful docu-series.

It’s also hard to argue that F1 will not face a slight scuff to its reputation after Abu Dhabi. Already infamous for the often-arcane phrasing and application of its rules, F1 has a tendency to outwardly appear as obtuse. The notion of pure head-to-head, wheel-to-wheel racing among the world’s best steering wheel-operators is often obscured by criticisms of predictability, inaccessibility and an overbearing governing body, and the 2021 season finale hardly did anything to shake the latter two points.

So how will that stack up in F1’s far-reaching quest to increase its fan base – will F1 face long-term fans turning off for good in anger at the FIA’s late-race decision, or will the Hollywood climax draw in any new viewers who have roamed around the sporting spectrum in search of drama?

Fans watch Qualifying as the sun sets

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

PLUS: The call Masi should have made to ensure the 2021 finale had the integrity F1 deserved

It could well be both, if F1 doesn’t change its tune. Certainly, a few long-term fans immediately responded to the Abu Dhabi finale by swearing off F1 for good, but they’ll soon return if next year’s racing turns out to be good. On the other side, those drawn in by the race control-triggered theatrics have perhaps realised that there’s a rich vein of spectacle still to be tapped in F1 circles, but still need to be engaged by other aspects to keep that demographic interested.

In that latter case, the outcome parallels the old adage F1 lived by under the days of Bernie Ecclestone’s stewardship: all publicity is good publicity. That’s not untrue, but it is finite; Donald Trump managed to generate enough publicity through negativity to grease his route into the White House, but said publicity-generation also earned him an early exit from Washington DC’s chalkiest abode. There are many other examples of “all publicity is good publicity, until it isn’t”, and that’s a warning F1 must heed as it seeks to define what it is heading forward: is it sport, or is it entertainment?

The answer to the question “will Abu Dhabi’s events cause irreparable harm to F1” is this: no, it won’t. From this, the FIA will undoubtedly put a rule in place to cover off any events like Sunday’s from occurring in the future – and would be well advised to consider other potential outcomes and cover them off too. The race’s end caused a media storm, one that drew the great and the good from all walks of life to pass comment and judgement, but all storms subside eventually.

By next year, attention will be fully on the present – not the past. Abu Dhabi’s final laps will be reprised as the climax to the next series of Drive to Survive, but will then be consigned to highlight reels and to retrospectives ranking the most controversial F1 season finales. But as ever, it will simply become another stitch in F1’s rich tapestry; a stitch that was quibbled about long into the night, but one that will simply outline the picture of F1’s contentious and fractious 2021 title battle.

But for a night, at least, Michael Masi’s late race decisions put F1 far beyond its usual domain and into the international sporting spotlight. It may not be for the reasons we, as F1 acolytes, would desire, but someday we'll be grateful that a little rain has fallen on our little corner of ‘paradise’. And we’ll look back on this day, hopefully surrounded by a healthy, growing and sustainable racing category, and laugh.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, 1st position, passes his cheering team on the pit wall

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images