The F1 Season only has two races remaining. 

The entire season has been one of the most tense championship races in the competition’s history, easily the closest in my time watching the sport. Lewis Hamilton has 7 race wins, Verstappen has 9. Hamilton has 15 podiums and Verstappen has 16. Verstappen is 8 points ahead.

 

We had back to back races before this two week break, and will have back to back races to decide the title, so i want to reflect on the biggest events in the last few weeks in this final break

 

I personally thought the title was over when Verstappen won in Mexico. Mercedes had the pace the entire weekend, surprisingly, and completely bottled it. Verstappen had gone 19 points clear. What could Hamilton even do at that point? 

 

It went from bad to worse at the start of brazil. Because of his new engine he would receive a 5 penalty after qualifying. This wasn't a big issue. What was an issue was when Hamilton’s wing was 0.2 mm too wide? Yes, just 0.2,mm because it was damaged. This put him in 20th for the sprint race-the format which is probably the worst aspect of this entire season-surely a win for Verstappen to put the nail in the coffin. And yet, Mercedes’ new engine wasn't really normal. They cooked something special up. It’s over 30 km/h faster than most of the cars on the field, and with that type of speed, with that quality of driver, Hamilton demolished the field in both the sprint race, and in the actual one. Game on.

 

Last weekend was a more composed masterclass. At Qatar, Mercedes reverted back to the old engine, so they could save the monster they’d created for the last two races. Hamilton still dominated.

 

Red bull are in a bit of pickle. They have no answer for Hamilton’s pace. It feels like the title is slipping away from them and there’s nothing they can do except hope and pray for a combination of Max’s beautiful driving, and a Hamilton/Mercedes disaster. It’s such a ridiculous turnaround in such a short space of time. It’s hard to comprehend. This season has been full of ups and downs, and just when I thought the tension had ended, the seasons sprung back to life.

 

In 3 weeks, I’ll look at this article knowing who won. My bet is on Hamilton, but who can truly know the outcome of this season. I don’t want it to end. I look forward to seeing the outcome.