10 flash points from an awesome 2019 F1 season

Hamilton’s title was barely in doubt by mid-summer, and yet this was far from a dull F1 season. Indeed, following a soporific French Grand Prix in July, the run of races that carried F1 through to the autumn included bona fide platinum-grade modern classics.

Let’s revisit some of the flash points that made F1 in 2019 a dramatic season to remember.

1. Bottas tells his critics what he really thinks

Valtteri Bottas arrived in Australia newly hirsute and apparently with a hardened edge. This was a different man to the driver who failed to win a race in 2018, as he trounced team-mate Hamilton in convincing fashion. And he had a message to all those who had doubted him.

“To whom it may concern, f*** you,” said Bottas on the radio.

Out of character? Oh yes. But in a good way? Absolutely – if it meant he was up for ‘doing a Nico Rosberg’ and beating Hamilton to an unlikely title, as the German had back in 2016. One race down and hopes were high Hamilton had another civil war on his hands.

2. Leclerc loses first victory in Bahrain

The second round of the season should have marked young Charles Leclerc’s breakthrough victory in F1. Instead, Ferrari’s new star was left downcast by what turned out to be ‘just’ his first podium finish, when an MGU-H failure in Bahrain cost him power and a thoroughly deserved first win.

Still, the contrast to crestfallen team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who had cracked and spun under pressure from Hamilton, couldn’t have been more stark. The four-time champion had a miserable evening in the desert and he had only himself to blame – not for the last time in 2019.

3. Verstappen taps Hamilton in Monaco

The rivalry between Hamilton and Verstappen could potentially define the seasons to come, and in 2019 we enjoyed a few opening skirmishes between the pair to whet the appetite.

In Monaco, Verstappen was the hunter as Hamilton struggled on worn tyres. As Murray Walker used to say, “you could cut the tension with a cricket stump”, before the Red Bull tapped the Merc at the chicane, forcing Hamilton to cut it. Lewis held on to win his third Monaco GP victory and his first from pole position.

4. Vettel cracks and pays a heavy price in Montréal

Football is struggling to come to terms with VAR right now, but the equivalent has been around for a while in F1 – and is as equally controversial.

The stewards’ hard-line on incidents came in for special criticism after the Canadian GP. Here, Vettel made yet another error under pressure as he cut the chicane with Hamilton hard on his tail, the Ferrari then squeezing the Merc towards the wall on the exit.

To his deep annoyance – and the exasperation of most fans – he coped a time penalty that meant even though he crossed the line first, Hamilton was awarded the win. Switching the number boards indicating the finishing positions in parc ferme offered one of the memorable images of the year.

But whatever our view of the penalty, the fact remained Vettel had brought it on himself with yet another mistake. This was becoming far too common.

5. Verstappen mugs Leclerc in Austria

The chase in the final laps at the Red Bull Ring represented the start of a scintillating F1 summer, as Verstappen got his elbows out to push Leclerc’s Ferrari aside and steal victory – engine supplier Honda’s first since the 2006 Hungarian GP.

But the move could have been cleaner, and inevitably the stewards debated… For three hours. Having been left to sweat, Verstappen’s victory was finally confirmed, and most in F1 let out a collective sigh of relief.

6. Leclerc gets his own back at Silverstone

A week later the pair came together again, but this time Leclerc wasn’t about to be pushed around. He admitted the bitter taste from Austria had inspired a harder approach to racing wheel to wheel, and the result was a battle that some compared to Gilles Villeneuve versus Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979. In other words, F1 at its finest.

7. Bottas drops a win at Hockenheim

That new, rejuvenated Bottas from Australia was long forgotten by July. Mixed weather conditions at Hockenheim for what looks likely to be the last German GP for a while created an afternoon of high drama. Hell, even the usually faultless Hamilton went off track – twice.

But Bottas’s crash at Turn 1 was more significant, as he threw away a much-needed victory on a weekend Mercedes made a big deal of celebrating his 200^th GP. All thoughts of a title challenge were now replaced by fear of losing his drive for 2020.

As it turned out, Bottas would be given another chance and another (one-year) contract. But there’s a case to be made that he can count himself lucky.

8. Vettel ignores team orders in Sochi

After the mid-season break, Ferrari displayed a new edge on pace over Mercedes. Was it down to clandestine fuel flow shenanigans that would test the governing body and force a rules clarification – or was it genuine? Let’s be generous – probably a bit of both.

But despite back-to-back breakthrough victories for Leclerc at Spa and Monza, the team still had a knack of making life difficult for itself – and the Russian GP included a flash point that caused lasting burns between its drivers.

Vettel, having won through strategy fortune in Singapore, now chose to ignore a pre-race agreement and allow team-mate Leclerc past, in a moment that brought back memories of ‘Multi 21’ arrangements with Mark Webber in the Red Bull days. Hamilton’s safety car-aided victory wasn’t related to the moment – but it was the only point of conversation after Sochi.

9. Verstappen ignores a yellow flag in Mexico

Overall, F1’s most popular driver had a wonderful season for Red Bull and looks ready to win a world title – if the team can give him a car for the job.

But Verstappen’s arrogance in qualifying in Mexico by ignoring a yellow flag for Bottas’s shunt, then brazenly admitting it, cost him more than a pole position. He lost some respect from his peers in that moment too.

In the race, he tangled with Hamilton and lost a great chance to win, as Lewis put in one of his greatest drives to take a hard-won victory on heavily worn tyres. The sixth title was within his reach and would be safe in his hands a week later in Austin.

10. Ferraris collide in Brazil

It was only the faintest of touches and the smallest of moves by Vettel. But it was enough to cause tyres to puncture and Ferraris to fire off course at Interlagos.

Both contributed to this latest Ferrari flash point, but Vettel’s share of the blame was greater. It left team principal Mattia Binotto with another management crisis to sort out and potentially a lasting one that will haunt him again next year.

Hamilton’s consistent brilliance, the soaring rise of Verstappen and Leclerc, and slow decline of Vettel – these were the major talking points of a fascinating F1 season in 2019. More, and perhaps even better, is expected from 2020. The Australian GP, on March 15, can’t come soon enough.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.