The gamesmanship warning over F1's potentially title-deciding moments

OPINION: Mercedes' decision to pit Valtteri Bottas towards the end of the Mexican Grand Prix to steal the fastest lap point from Max Verstappen created an intriguing subplot. While the pair's jostling for track position was all above board, it likely won't be the last time teams employ such tactics with championships at stake

Jonathan Noble Nov 11, 2021, 12:04 PM

Upd: Nov 11, 2021, 12:10 PM

Imagine the scenario. There are three laps to go in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the 2021 Formula 1 championship battle could not be more finely poised. Lewis Hamilton, who came to Yas Marina seven points behind rival Max Verstappen, holds a comfortable 10-second margin over the pursuing Dutchman.

Victory alone though is not enough to guarantee the Mercedes driver the title – thanks to the countback rule and Verstappen having won more races this year. He knows that, for the championship to be his, he also has to grab fastest lap. And that's exactly what he did during the long second stint, securing the quickest lap of the race.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.