AT LEAST I CAN SEE HIM NOW
Hamilton dig after pole blow, but he was given a crash course in genius
ANY notion that Lewis Hamilton would stroll into the pages of history was ripped apart in the 1min 22.109sec it took Max Verstappen to produce a scintillating pole lap.
Hamilton was only second quickest, and all the certainties of the hours leading up to qualifying for the winner-takes-all Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which placed the Briton as overwhelming favourite for title glory, were no more.
That is not to say that the seventime champion cannot win an unmatched eighth wonder of the world over the course of the 55-lap race. For one thing, strategy may favour him: he will start on medium tyres while Verstappen will be on the less durable but faster softs.
However, it does mean that the Dutchman, who had no choice in his selection of rubber for reasons we will later explain, holds the speed advantage into the first corner and then for the next six or seven laps.
He is assuredly master of his own destiny, and it is doubtful he would swap seats with Hamilton.
But, on the other hand, one never counts out the size of Sir Lewis’s appetite to win and searing ability as a racer. The signs are that we should prepare for a nail-biting thriller by the harbourside.
One thing we can be relatively sure of is that it is unlikely to end in crumpled metal at the first corner.
‘At least I can see him,’ said Hamilton, pointedly at starting second. Yes, it is only Verstappen who could gain by taking them both out, on the basis that he leads 9-8 in races and would, subject to any intervention by the stewards, claim his maiden world title if they finished as they start, namely dead level on points.
Whoever takes the crown can hardly be said to have won it lightly. Hamilton charging back from a 32-point deficit going into Silverstone in July ranks among the greatest achievements of his career. His win in Brazil, the pick of recent ones, was extraordinary for its speed and faultlessness.
But just as brilliant at times, if a little foolhardy at others, has been Verstappen. His pole lap here last evening as the sun went down, his 10th of the season, was a superlative act of defiance. It was also a compensation for clipping the final bend while roaring towards what would have been the fastest lap in Saudi seven days earlier.
On this occasion he took the tow of team-mate Sergio Perez into the new Turn 9. He screamed around the rest of the 3.28-mile circuit like a man possessed. On the same rubber as Hamilton at this point — they were both on softs — he was more than half-a-second faster.
Gasps of astonishment. Wasn’t the momentum meant to be with Hamilton after his three successive victories? Wasn’t he meant to have a quicker car with that ‘spicy’ engine?
Hamilton, for some reason operating without a tow from Valtteri Bottas, improved on his second and final flying lap but was still 0.371sec adrift at the close. Both Verstappen’s laps were good enough for pole.
When it was over Verstappen could barely hide his smile. Hamilton, booed by sections of the crowd, was phlegmatic. ‘Max did a great lap today and we just couldn’t compete with that time at the end,’ he said.
As for the difference in their tyres, Verstappen was forced into starting on softs owing to the arcane rule that you begin the race wearing the rubber on which you set your fastest Q2 time.
With Verstappen flat-spotting his left front at Turn One and having no other mediums available, he had to switch to softs.
‘The lock-up wasn’t ideal so it kind of forced our hand,’ said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. ‘We were 50-50 going into that session. The soft will be a different tyre from Mercedes tomorrow. We’ll see how it plays out.’
His counterpart Toto Wolff of Mercedes put aside rancour to pay a generous tribute to his rivals, saying: ‘You have to say it like it is, it is one-zero to them today. They got the tyres in the perfect window in the last run, the tow functioned flawlessly and that is why they are on pole.
‘I am also worried for tomorrow because their long runs were much better on Friday. Our tyres were just not in the window, theirs were.
‘You can see Q1 and Q2 were ours, it looked like a pretty easy run and then suddenly you lose all the performance.’ But alluding to the strategic possibilities, Wolff sounded a more optimistic note, insisting: ‘I would much rather be starting on the medium, from P2.
‘We can go for an aggressive undercut and try to control track position. So we will be running lots of programmes and algorithms overnight to see where it ends.’
Sitting side by side after qualifying, Hamilton and Verstappen were asked to put this see-sawing 22-race contest into perspective. Even in the white heat of battle they know they are starring in one of sport’s epics.
‘At times, we have pushed each other to the limit,’ said Verstappen. ‘In 10 or 20 years, we will be able to look back and say that we were part of something special.’
‘Well said, man,’ Hamilton concurred in a rare moment of warmth between the two alpha males. ‘I’m grateful for such a close fight with Max and his team. We have grown stronger in ways we didn’t know we could.’
The last time Hamilton took part in a final race decider was in Abu Dhabi five years ago, when Nico Rosberg held on to his championship lead before promptly retiring, knowing that he would never again be able to steel himself to beat such a relentless competitor as his erstwhile karting pal.
‘I feel a million times better than I did then,’ said Hamilton, 36. ‘I was facing different resistances in life. Now I am much better and happier. I am definitely a better driver.’
Before leaving the track, Hamilton posted a picture of a flag carrying the message: ‘Now it’s Hammer Time.’ Today, as the sun sets, we will discover the truth of that sentiment.