I wouldn't' see it that way.

All year long, Red Bull has been the favourite. They have the stronger car and not until Pirelli changed the tires that Mercedes start crawling back the disadvantage. Honda's big engine upgrade really pushes them equal to Mercedes' engine output. WIth spending their developmental tokens on new gearbox, they had improved their rear aero and balanced out the car to be much better than the twitchy one last year, combined that with much more power, that's a winning combination. WIth a equally skilled driver like Max.

It was only Hamilton's skills that kept the championship close. Also when they finally figured out how to setup the car properly to give Hamilton a competitive car.

Hamilton drove a picture race today, from start to finish. He lost the race due to something he can't control. After the Giovinazzi incident with Max on much much fresher tires, he was still putting down good enough laps on decade old hards to extend the closing time to after the race end. 

Here is the thing. Had Max had a clearer head earlier in the season, he would have wrapped up the championship a while ago and there would have been no 'drama' happening this late in the season. Max had easily threw away 30-40 points this year. It had always been his to lose, and he almost did if not for some divine intervention earlier. 

it would have been unexpected had Hamilton won the title. Mercedes never did spent their developmental token this year, so the car is basically a 2020 car which was basically the 2019 car with the rear floor cut for the 2021 rule. It's amazing that he took a 2 year old car to within a few corners of winning the WDC. 

 


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