How Abu Dhabi’s finale helped F1 transcend its normal news cycle
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix's final few laps elevated the 2021 Formula 1 finale from a run-of-the-mill formality for Lewis Hamilton to a last-second title triumph for Max Verstappen. But although the FIA's late-race decisions plunged the race's end into controversy, it sent shockwaves beyond F1's usual reach in the media
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.
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Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.
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