I’m trying to understand what exactly happened in the Abu Dabi F1 2021 Drama, but as someone very new to racing I don’t seem to understand what exactly happened. I keep hearing lapped cars were allowed to unlap, but as someone who hasn’t seen that match or any for that matter, I don’t exactly know what that means.
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In Formula 1 racing, a “lapped car” is a car that has been overtaken by the race leader and is therefore one or more laps behind the lead car.
When it’s said that lapped cars are “allowed to unlap,” it means that these cars are permitted to pass the race leader and go around the track to regain the same lap as the leaders. This usually happens under a safety car situation, where the race is temporarily neutralized. The purpose is to ensure that all cars are on the same lap, providing a fairer competition when the race resumes.
In the context of the Abu Dhabi F1 2021 drama, lapped cars should have been allowed to unlap themselves (most likely giving Hamilton a chance to win under the safety car), but Masi overruled this and gave Max the opportunity to win (not under safety car).
The basic problem is that overtaking is difficult. If someone is faster than you, than you have to deal with it. You have to overtake them to get in front.
But if someone is a whole round behind and makes it difficult for you to overtake then that feels unfair. So there is a rule to bring them into the same round again.
Lapped = the car is a full lap ahead of you, ie they are so far ahead that they passed you again
Allowed to unlap = as far as i understand the car that lapped you isn’t allowed to fight for position ie prevent you from passing them, since you’re a whole lap behind.
In circuit racing a lapped car is a car that is behind the leader by more then a full lap. That means that the leaders drove so fast that they were able to go an extra lap around the circuit and ended up passing the slowest cars. There are rules saying that a lapped car is not allowed to defend against getting overtaken by the leaders. This is so that they can not interfere with the race of the fastest cars. Ideally you would make a circuit that is so long that you never get any lapped cars but this is unpractical so you end up with leaders and lapped cars having to share the circuit.
The issue that might come up is that the cars do not all go at the same speed all the time. The lapped car might have ended up in the back due to a crash or because they had to pit for new tyres. And the leaders might have stayed out too long on old tyres and have now gotten slow. It is therefore not that uncommon to have lapped cars being faster then the race leaders. And while lapped cars are not allowed to defend against the leaders they are allowed to attack leaders in front of them. If they pass the leader they have unlapped themselves. It is not unfair for a lapped car who is now fast to get their race ruined just because they get stuck behind a slow leading car. The problem with this is that sometimes the lapped car might interfere with the race of the leader while attempting to pass them. So a lapped car who are far behind and out of the points may end up ruining the race for a driver that is currently on pole.
Lapped cars are cars that are a lap or more behind the leaders, either due to lack of pace or additional pitstops or mechanical problems/accidents. They’re typically shown a blue flag when a faster (typically unlappped) car approaches them telling them to move aside and let the faster car by.
When a safety car comes out – in the case of the track being unsafe for any reason – it’s to slow the cars down. The cars form a line behind the safety car, but this can mean it’s a mix of lapped and unlapped cars in the ‘queue’. This can be a little dangerous – having faster and slower cars mixed together on a restart – and also it prevents cars on the same lap racing each other.
So, often the race control will indicate the lapped cars can overtake the safety car and the unlapped cars behind it, proceed around the track, and rejoin the queue of cars from the end.
Lapped cars are cars that were so slow that the faster cars in front of them were so much faster, that they caught them again and overtook them. So they’re a lap ahead.
Why lapped cars are allowed to unlap themselves in the case of a safety car + restart, rather than moving aside a little on the restart to let the faster cars go on with their business, is a mystery of the universe. There are explanations, none of them really make sense.
Man this race was some mfing emotional roller coaster. Maybe it was controversial bit one of the most exciting race I ever watched.
**Allowed to Unlap**: During a safety car period (when the safety car is deployed to slow down the race due to an incident on the track), race officials may allow lapped cars to pass the safety car and rejoin the back of the field. This procedure helps to ensure that the race can restart with cars in the correct order, avoiding lapped cars interfering with the battle for positions among the leaders.
Being “lapped” means you are passed by someone a full lap ahead of you.
“Unlapping” is overtaking that person so they are less than a full lap ahead of you.
If you weren’t allowed to unlap, then you are forced to stay behind someone who has lapped you
Formula 1 races last a certain amount of laps or a maximum time. Generally the maximum time limit never becomes a factor except in races like Singapore which is slow and has a lot of accidents.
The Abu Dhbui Grand Prix is 58 laps long. The fastest cars average 86-87 seconds per lap. The slowest cars average 90 seconds per lap.
This means that in ~22 laps the fastest cars will have completed one more lap than the slowest cars. The slow car is now a lapped car.*
During a safety car when there is an accident all the cars will follow behind the safety car at a slower speed. The safety car pulls out and then the leader of the race will queue up behind the safety car. All other cars will the drop in behind the leader in the physical position they were in the track not race position.
That is if the leader laps a slower car the leader is still in first place. The car that the leader just lapped may be in 20th place. If the safety car comes out the safety car will pull in front of the leader and everyone else will slow down. So the queue may look like this:
Safety Car
Leader – 1st place
Lapped Car – 20th place
Second Place
Third Place
Now we have a situation where all the cars are moving slowly behind the safety car and the cars are out of race position. Before the race resumes the decision can be made to allow the lapped cars to unlap themselves.
They will be given instruction by race direction when it is safe to do so and in this example the 20th place car will speed up, pass the leader, pass the safety car, and drive around the entire track to rejoin the queue at the back.**
Race direction can also decide not to allow lapped cars to unlap themselves. This may happen if allowing the cars to unlap themselves will mean the race ends under a safety car. This could happen at the very end of the race when there is a safety car.
It takes time for cars to unlap themselves and while unlapping themselves the lead cars might finish the race while still under safety car conditions. This has happened but it’s not great entertainment. It’s much more entertaining to have the race ends with cars racing.
The rules in 2021 gave race direction two options.
1. Allow all lapped cars to unlap themselves
2. Allow no cars to unlap themselves
Option 1
If race direction allowed all cars to unlap themselves then the race would end under the safety car and the winner of the race would win the world championship. This is not very entertaining to have a world championship decided under a safety car and there purportedly were talks with the teams prior to the race to try to prevent this.
If race direction choose Option 1 Max would have had to pass lapped cars to get to Lewis Hamilton then pass Lewis Hamilton to win the race. Lapped cars are not allowed to defend or impede an unlapped car but it’s slower passing a car even if it is not trying to slow you down that it is driving exactly where and how you want.
This all takes time and Max might have been able to pass Lewis in the final lap or maybe Lewis would have been able to hold him off.
Option 2
Race direction could have allowed no cars to unlap themselves but this was very unsatisfying for Red Bull. Red Bull wanted the cars between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to unlap themselves so Max would be directly behind Lewis at the restart. This would give Max the best chance to win. Max was on a faster tire with less wear and would have a raw pace advantage. Max wouldn’t be guaranteed to win but barring something unusual Max on newer tires should have the pace to pass Lewis.
Scenario:
Race direction is trying to figure out which option to choose.
The race win is on the line, the world championship is on the line, of Lewis Hamilton wins he will have the most wold championships of anyone in F1 ever, race direction doesn’t want to be the referee that decides the match, two hugely influential and powerful people are yelling at you in the radio, there are 150k people in the stands, another 70 or 80 million watching, and the clock is ticking because you have to make a decision because the safety car is about to come in.
Race direction needs to make a decision now….and…
Chooses an option which didn’t exist.
Race direction allows only the cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to unlap themselves. All the other unlapped cars are not allowed to unlap themselves.
Max on is newer tires fires past Lewis on the last lap and wins the race and WDC…
………
Maybe Max would have won anyway if all the unlapped cars were not allowed to unlap. Max would have raced passed the unlap cars and passed Lewis and won or Lewis would have held him off.
Either way it would have been an epic battle between two incredible drivers to decide the world championship in the final race of the year in the final lap. Amazing.
What the world got instead was race direction making up an option on the spot and putting its finger on the scale.
In the aftermath people talk about who deserved to win. That’s bollocks. They both deserved to win inasmuch as they both drove incredible seasons and are monumentally talented drivers that have massive dedication.
Neither of them “deserved” to win more than the other. I think what the both really deserved and what we as fans deserved was that last lap. A last lap undecided by the whims and foibles of a fallible race direction.
*In practice there are more factors than this. F1 cars are given 5 types of tires. 2 wet weather and 3 dry weather tires. The dry weather tires are go from a soft compound to a medium to a hard. Generally the soft compound is fastest but wears faster. The hard compound is the slowest but but wears the slowest. F1 teams need to use at least two compounds in a dry race.
**In a non safety car situation lapped cars are able to unlap themselves provided they are able to drive quick enough to do so. This doesn’t happen very often.
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