Formula 1 ends 2024 as it began: full of drama

The Formula 1 The season finale takes place this weekend in Abu Dhabi and despite some tight races and plenty of race winners, the look of the racing series is now much the same as it was in January. Drama, drama and more drama.

Before I get into who threatened who and which team manager called the other a “squirming terrier,” let’s go back to the calendar last January, just in case you forgot how long the season was.

Steiner, Andretti, Horner and Hamilton enter the bar

Most of us hadn’t even gotten used to writing 2025 (instead of 2024) when the news broke that Haas F1 issues Gunther Steiner. This led to some drama with sponsors possibly leaving the team and even more drama with lawsuits and unpaid fees etc.

A few days after the news about Steiner, we were served a plate of BS F1 rejects Andretti Global bid to join the sport, despite the fact that the FIA ​​gave the Americans the all-clear. This was the beginning of a drama in the style of a telenovela, which is only now gaining a certain resolution.

One day after the Andretti news, another bombshell. This was reported by seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton he will leave Mercedes at the end of the year and join Ferrari in 2026. It caused a tsunami of chaos to sweep through the F1 paddock and left Carlos Sainz out of a job – all while Toto Wolff shouted that he was stunned by the decision.

Just four days after the nugget, the first official report appeared inappropriate behavior involving Red Bull boss Christian Horner and his former assistant were caught in the wire. This dire situation quickly permeated all F1 coverage, not just that week, but throughout the first two or three races of the season. It even led to fights between Jos Verstappen and Horner, and some might say it ended the relationship between F1 boss and Adrian Newey.

A four-time champion and a really good boy get into it

Fast forward 10 months and it’s the end of the 2024 season. Even before the lights went out for Qatar Grand Prix a week ago there was a healthy dose of high school drama, and now she’s moved to Abu Dhabi where it’s actually ramped up.

It all started with an incident in Q3 in Qatar, when the FIA ​​stewards ruled that Max Verstappen had blocked George Russell and deserved a one-place penalty for starting the race. However, before it was handed down, both drivers were summoned by officials, where both pleaded their case. Verstappen felt Russell was “lying” and did everything in his power to smear him and get him a penalty so he could take pole.

According to the results of the meeting, Verstappen soon told the media that he had lost respect for Russell, adding that he had never seen anyone “work to screw somebody over” with officials. To this, Russell said that Verstappen was a bully and everyone always backed down in front of him. He even mentioned that if Verstappen lost the 2021 title like Lewis Hamilton did, former FIA race director Michael Massi would “fearing for his life.”

Verstappen followed saying that Russell can “fuck off” and added that “he’s always on camera, but when you talk to him in person, he’s a different person.” Russell opened up about the response and claimed that Verstappen actually threatened him after the penalty in Qatar, going so far as to say that he would “purposefully do everything he could to crash into me and ‘put my goddamn head into the wall'”.

As we already know, Verstappen won this race with relative ease, while the rest of the field suffered from breakaways in one way or another the wing mirror that fell off Alex Albon’s Williams.

A snarling terrier against a wolf

Being the principal of an F1 team is a lot like being an overprotective dad and the CEO of a superstar at the same time. Ultimately, you want and need to do what’s best for your company (team), but you’re a superstar and you have an ego to flaunt. Oh, and if someone comes for your favorite child, it will be a mess.

Horner often likes to stir up any scandal that occurs in the paddock, and this one was no exception. He told the media that Verstappen was spurred on by Russell’s comments in Qatar and that made him even more eager to pass the Briton at the first turn and run away with the win. He also added that Russell was “hysterical all weekend” and “Mercedes (Wolf) made a big deal out of it,” as if to say they overreacted.

As a result, Wolff criticized Horner’s handling of his star rider and noted that he should keep him on a tighter leash. This may have been the start of a dog-themed war of words that ended with Wolfe calling Horner a “wandering little terrier.”

“It’s just weak,” Wolfe said, according to ESPN. “After all, why does he feel entitled to comment on my driver? How does it work? But when I thought about it, I took 90 seconds to think about it… A little yapping terrier. There’s always something to say.”

Not only is it unpleasant to call people names, but it always seems like even less of a blow when you compare someone to an animal…my two cents. Of course, this is just the day-to-day life of the head of a major Formula 1 team, so there’s nothing surprising here. However, I will say that Horner’s attempt to dismiss Wolfe’s comments by giving a lengthy comment to the media didn’t fool anyone into thinking he wasn’t bothered.

“I love terriers! I think they are great dogs” Horner said A mirror. “I had four of them. I had a pair of Airedales, King Terriers, and a pair of West Highland Terriers named Bernie and Flavio. The good thing about terriers is that they are very loyal.

“Bernie, he was an aggressive dog — he would go after anybody. And Flavio was a bit more chilled and probably ate too much. Is being called a terrier really that bad? They are not afraid of attacking big dogs. Maybe I’d rather be a terrier than a Wolf,” he concluded.

It was clear that Wolff’s comment disturbed him — and understandably so. But I also love the fact that he named his two terriers Flavio (apparently after Briatore) and Bernie, after the F1 supremo.

2025 starts now

On Monday, it will be a different world for everyone involved in this season-closing drama. Verstappen will go into the off-season as a four-time champion, but also with the news that he will become a father in 2025 – something that was confirmed via Instagram Friday morning. Meanwhile, Wolff will say goodbye to his beloved son after many years by his side. And that’s not to mention that Russell will have to take over as the lead driver and hope he can keep Kimi Antonelli off the back, while Hamilton will surely experience a drastic culture change the moment he sets foot in Maranello.

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