Don Robbie

What needs to change in F1 after the controversial end to the 2021 season The eyes of the whole sporting world were drawn to Abu Dhabi for the battle royale between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen as the 2021 season drew to a close.   New fans fuelled by Netflix’s vastly popular Formula 1: Drive to Survive documentary series flocked to see who would come out on top and there was no shortage of fitting drama to cap a whirlwind season.   Verstappen took the win for Red Bull in hugely controversial circumstances thanks to a safety car with British great Hamilton denied the chance to eclipse Michael Schumacher’s record by winning his eighth world championship.   Here we take a look at what needs to change this season after the fall-out in 2021.   Rules shake-up   The main controversy stemmed from what seemed to be a liberal application of the F1 rules after Nicholas Latifi had hit the wall at Turn 14.   At that stage there were five full laps remaining, to cu...

Top five F1 drivers of 2021 By Charlie Bennett It’s almost three weeks since Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to win perhaps the most controversial F1 World Championship in history – but they weren’t the only drivers to shine in 2021.   Verstappen is the new king of the road and Hamilton will have to find an answer to the Dutchman’s brilliance if he’s to regain the title, but there were 18 other drivers on the grid this season – some good, some not.   So, without further ado, here’s our top five drivers from 2021 and – spoiler alert – it includes a couple of familiar names on top.     1. Max Verstappen   Max Verstappen may divide opinion because of his no-holds-barred on-track manner, but there is no disputing his brilliance behind the wheel of a racing car.   For years, pundits and journalists have waited to see him and Lewis Hamilton go at it for the title and in 2021, the Dutchman finally had the car to do it.   Jenson Button already labels the 24...

F1 Awards: Who are the big winners in 2021? By Violet Turner As 2021 draws to a close, it’s awards season – and in F1 there are plenty to be dished out.  Max Verstappen landed the biggest prize of all by beating Lewis Hamilton in all-time classic of a season to become the first Dutch driver to be crowned world champion.  But there are plenty of other awards to be handed out, so let’s get cracking.  BEST DRIVER – MAX VERSTAPPEN  Who else?  How the season ended may have left a bitter taste for many but Verstappen was as innocent as Hamilton on the last lap and winning his first world championship is just reward for one of the greatest individual seasons ever.  That might be a bold statement but in 22 races, Verstappen finished first or second a staggering 18 times. Of the four he didn’t, he was helpless when his tyre blew at 200mph in Azerbaijan, causing him to crash out from the lead. In Silverstone, luck was not on his side when he came together with Hamilt...

By Tom Harle Lewis Hamilton has already made his decision. The great British driver is at a crossroads in his career that not even he can take at top speed, with the spectre of Formula One retirement looming large. A week ago Mercedes principal Toto Wolff - himself reeling from the Abu Dhabi denouement - dropped the chequered flag on rumours that Hamilton is finished. “It's going to take a long time for us to digest what has happened,” said the German. “I don't think we will ever overcome it, that's not possible.” He spoke of hope that Hamilton would continue in the sport, rather than expectation. The 36-year-old has a strong inner sense of justice and his inner convictions on right and wrong were violated by one of the most controversial incidents in modern sport. We talk, of course, of the way that Max Verstappen passed Hamilton on the final lap of the final race to scoop the world title after the Safety Car restarted the race. Hamilton and his team spurned the subsequent...

What can F1 fans expect in 2022? By Felix Holland At the end of the longest season in F1 history, drivers and teams deserve a well-earned break over the festive period - but they won’t be able to relax for long.  The 2022 campaign starts on March 20 in Bahrain and pre-season testing begins a month before, so teams need to get their skates on if they’re to be ready.  Add in a whole new batch of technical regulations – the biggest rule changes since 2014 – and it’s certainly not going to be a quiet winter.  Everyone might want to see another Mercedes v Red Bull showdown, especially after what happened in Abu Dhabi, but is that going to happen?  Here’s what we can expect in 2022…  A MIXED GRID  With such significant rule changes, F1 is going to look totally different next season.  After eight years of slight evolution, it's back to the drawing board in 2022. All 10 teams are starting from scratch and that will lead to some unpredictable results up and dow...

Hamilton v Verstappen - The key moments from a thrilling season By Oli Dickson-Jefford  It was perhaps the most enthralling sporting contest of 2021, fuelled by drama, controversy and incredible racing. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton contested a thrilling title battle this Formula One season, with the championship winner not decided until the very final lap of the season. Though the thrilling- and hugely controversial- finale is what will be remembered the most when all is said and done, it’s been a season of thrills and spills and dramatic momentum swings. In a season that went down to the very wire, just what were the key moments between the two?  Bahrain- Race 1 Eyebrows were first raised on the opening weekend of the season when Verstappen took pole in Bahrain. And that continued during the race, with the two protagonists battling it out throughout the first 40 laps before the Brit was able to take the lead. Verstappen closed down Hamilton and overtook him with three la...

By Oli Dickson Jefford Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton provided one of the most thrilling battles in F1 history throughout 2021, with the title race hanging in the balance up until the very final lap of the season.   It was a battle that ebbed and flowed throughout the campaign and was stacked with high-quality racing – along with a decent helping of controversy. Verstappen’s charge and ultimate title victory has breathed new life into F1 and anticipation is building for 2022, though this is already a legendary rivalry no matter what happens in the future. F1 is a sport full of classic rivalries, so where does Hamilton v Verstappen rank among those?  Hunt v Lauda, 1976 Many would have learnt about James Hunt and Niki Lauda’s rivalry from ‘Rush’ but for fans of the sport, this is a rivalry many will know like the back of their hand. Heading into the 1976 season Lauda, a hard-working, quiet and understated driver, had the world at his feet after winning his first world title w...