Winning a championship is one of the best feelings in the world, as any racing driver lucky enough to do so will tell you. But sometimes the ‘winner’ doesn’t go to plan a bit.
Formula 1 and the top open-wheel support series have produced championship conclusions that are short on action, confusing – or simply don’t happen.
Formula 1: The point rule is wrong.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen knew he was on course to become a two-time F1 champion after the summer break, and the inevitable crown came at the Japanese Grand Prix.
As Suzuka is the home track of Red Bull power unit designer Honda, this was a fitting location. For the Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull increased the visibility of Honda logos on their cars. Unfortunately, the resolution of the title fight left many disappointed.
Verstappen put in a masterclass performance, eclipsing the Ferrari drivers for pole position and charging through a rain-hit race before stalling for several hours before sprinting away.
This led to a dispute between the teams and the media over whether or not to give full points. Following last year’s much-criticized Belgian Grand Prix, new rules were introduced to determine points awarded based on distance covered. By the time Verstappen reached the checkered flag, the consensus was that he was not yet the champion, although his next rival, Charles Leclerc, was penalized for going off-track and gaining the advantage.
So when Verstappen was told by Jonny Herbert in his post-race interview, he didn’t immediately believe it. Eventually the FIA admitted that, thanks to an unintended fluke of the rules, full points had indeed been awarded for a short race and thus Verstappen was the champion.
Work is underway to revise the rule again. Accepting the world championship trophy from Red Bull at the FIA’s awards gala, Horner cited “confusion” over the decision race, prompting a swift response from president Mohamed Ben Sulaiman. “The FIA was responsible for the points but it was not the FIA that made the rules,” he insisted. “The teams made the rules and we were enforcing them.”
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Formula 2: Pit wall crown
As was the case for Verstappen in F1, it was a foregone conclusion that Felipe Dragovic would take the Formula 2 title. But he couldn’t seal the deal with a win, podium or points. Instead, he became the F2 champion after being taken out on the first lap of the Monza sprint race.
A five-place grid penalty put Drugovic in the middle of the grid at the start, and he was battling with Maury Cordell for 10th on the opening lap. Dragovic takes the inside lane into Roja’s chicane, which becomes the outside lane as they come out of the corner. He ran into the exit junctions and was then completely squeezed off the track by Cordiel, breaking Dragovic’s lead from wheel-to-tire contact.
He was able to drag his wrecked car back to the pits, but the damage was so extensive that he retired. It then landed in Theo Purcher’s hands to keep his title fight alive, but he finished a lowly 17th and was on the hole wall when Dragovic was crowned.
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Equation 3: Red flag confusion
The conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Championship has confused F1 and F2 for fraud, spoiling the six-way race to the final at Monza.
After two drivers collided, the safety car came out on lap 16 of the 22-lap title-decider. If the race ends behind him, Victor Martins will be the champion. But then red flags waved on the next lap.
The field headed to the pit lane and waited for confirmation that there would be no restart. The first message from race control was that Martins was in third place and was penalized five seconds for being over the track limit.
Based on the gap behind the safety car when the race was stopped, Martins would still be champion if the order was not changed at the restart and the gaps remained the same. But then the timing screen showed a changed sequence, many times, when other drivers were penalized without explanation, causing great confusion.
Finally, it was announced that the race would not start. But the timeline screen is still unstable. So was Martins champion or not?
Once the penalties were given to six drivers, the checkered flag appeared on the pit wall and Martins – now in fourth place – won the title. The words “frustrated” and “angry” were used by Martins at the time instead of “happy” or even “relieved”, and many fans felt the same way.
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W Series: Championship cancelled.
Jamie Chadwick wasn’t even on the track when she won her third W Series title, although perhaps she didn’t need to be given the extent of her dominance.
She won every race in the first half of the season, and her run of seven consecutive victories starting in 2021 finally ended with a six-lap hangover as new engineer Alice Powell beat Chadwick in pole position and victory.
That means the pair entered the final three rounds, all flights, divided by 75 points and available to be counted out of 100. Beitske Visser was level on points with Powell and Chadwick took the biggest points lead in Singapore when she fell to win.
They now have 50 points and 75 goals between them. If Visser wins all three and finishes lower than fifth in the remaining three races, Chadwick can secure the title.
But eight days after Singapore, it was announced that the final round would not go ahead due to financial problems. So Chadwick won the title by default.
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British F4: Cardboard Cutout Crown
British Formula 4 moved closer to its European counterparts this year by deciding to run with the same car, engine and tyres. Rather than bringing more continental drivers to Britain, it encouraged British F4 drivers to double up overseas.
Former KCMG junior Alex Dunne has signed from Hitech for British F4, and from US Racing for Italian F4. There was a problem during the success: the British F4 final clashed with the Italian F4 round.
During the year Dune had a huge lead in British F4, but was a close second in the Italian F4 standings. He chose to travel to Monza to compete in the latter race.
A cardboard cutout of Dunn went to Brands Hatch that weekend to represent the real-life Dunn in the absence of the champion as he officially confirmed his title following the first race of the weekend.
China: The impact of the Covid-19 calendar
China’s ‘zero covid-19’ policy has severely disrupted its motorsport program this year, while other countries have returned to normal with major events. The final rounds of the junior single-seater series were pending to see if the races would go ahead.
The third round of the Chinese F4 season was due to take place at Pingtan’s new street circuit in September. But the Pingtan International Racing Festival has been postponed to the first weekend of November as organizers have not collected all the necessary permits to run on the scheduled date. However, at that point, the national policy on Covid made such a large-scale event impossible.
The organizers will then consider postponing the tournament to the second weekend of December. That date made the event the final of the season and November’s intended season finale meant the Macau Grand Prix became the third round.
While the Pingtan event was running, there was no result for a title fight due to one major name. Gerard Xi is the runaway leader in Chinese F4 and Formula Renault SuperChallenge, and whether or not he qualified for the second stage of the Macau GP, Pingtan, earned him the F4 title there. He then took control of the four Pingtan races anyway.
The fourth and final round of the SuperChallenge was due to take place in September at the Shanghai International Circuit F1 track, but was postponed until the end of October and canceled entirely due to current restrictions, with the track only open for testing.
While the series will seek to find a replacement venue and date, Xie does not expect to race in an FR2.0 car this year and therefore does not know when or how the championship will be decided.
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Formula Ford 1600: Acrimonious win
The two year-end classics of this entry-level single-seater category both ended in paddock drama that overshadowed victories.
At the Formula Ford Festival, organizer BRSCC Club failed to postpone the final day of the race after it became clear heavy rain was forecast to hit Brands Hatch during the race. As a result, the much-anticipated winner-takes-all contest was declared over and struck by a storm after two rounds.
Due to how the red flag rules are applied, the end result has left many drivers bouncing up and down the order and most of the paddock angry at the situation. After the last half hour the sky cleared, but not long after sunset. The race was held later than usual on the day, raising questions as to whether it could be considered a two-round race.
The arguments were left in the paddock on this one and Red Bull’s Max Esterson led the short race from pole to victory.
Two weeks later, the arguments over the Walter Hayes Cup winner went too far, and Esterson was once again at the center. He won the prestigious Silverstone event on stage, then was called to the stewards for a collision with another driver at the end. There was a discussion for hours before Esterson was sentenced, which was immediately appealed.
See you waiting another few hours. The appeal failed with the stewards and was taken to the National Court. A month later, in December, the case was heard and the appeal was dismissed, with confirmation of victory delivered by a phone call to the winner, Joey Foster.
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