{"id":261668,"date":"2025-11-04T19:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T19:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/261668\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T19:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T19:03:10","slug":"when-f1-had-a-nascar-ending-plus-the-first-brazilian-gp-home-star-in-seven-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/261668\/","title":{"rendered":"When F1 had a NASCAR ending. Plus, the first Brazilian GP home star in seven years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s twice-weekly F1<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday.<\/p>\n

Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today I\u2019m thoroughly looking forward to this weekend\u2019s Sao Paulo Brazilian Grand Prix being as wet as forecast.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just something about Interlagos in the rain:\u00a0all those crashes<\/a>\u00a0in 2003, Lewis Hamilton\u00a0dramatically denying Felipe Massa<\/a>\u00a0the 2008 title, Max Verstappen\u2019s wet-weather masterclasses in\u00a02016<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t do it again, could he? Of course he could, he\u2019s\u00a0Max Verstappen<\/a>\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Alex, and Madeline Coleman will be along later.<\/p>\n

The Double Points MistakeNASCAR\u2019s season ending evokes F1 2014<\/p>\n

Formula One has arrived on the verge of a \u201cwinner takes all\u201d finale thanks to the season\u2019s two main narratives combining.<\/p>\n

A perfect season from either McLaren driver\u00a0would\u2019ve\u00a0wrapped the championship up<\/a>\u00a0already. But they\u2019ve both made many errors. And Verstappen has brilliantly got himself back into contention with Red Bull\u2019s upgraded car.<\/p>\n

But fans don\u2019t like it when motorsport championships try and achieve such a showdown artificially. NASCAR has provided a handy reminder only this past week.<\/p>\n

In the final example of its contrived one-race championship format, long-time title favorite Denny Hamlin was\u00a0agonizingly denied<\/a>\u00a0a maiden Cup crown.<\/p>\n

His dream was dashed, yet again. And he\u2019s done everything right.<\/p>\n

As Jeff Gluck eloquently pointed out in\u00a0this column<\/a>\u00a0on what unfolded at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, the result \u201cfound a way to make everyone feel bad about a worthy season champion\u201d in Kyle Larson.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s\u00a0another excellent point<\/a>\u00a0from Jeff: \u201cFormer (NASCAR) CEO Brian France\u2019s misguided thirst for (MLB) \u2018Game 7 moments\u2019 has backfired spectacularly. NASCAR\u2019s television viewership for many playoff races sank to record lows as fans became exhausted by a forced gimmick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Denny Hamlin immediately after the 2025 NASCAR season finale (James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And this got me thinking \u2026\u00a0all the way back to 2014, when F1 tried something similar.<\/p>\n

In that case, rather than a season-ending decider where four drivers could take the title if they beat the rest around a regular race, F1 chose to make the season finale in Abu Dhabi pay out twice the points as the other 18 races held that year.<\/p>\n

So 50 points for first, 36 for second and so on.<\/p>\n

It was a direct reaction to the 2013 season \u2014 where Red Bull\u2019s Sebastian Vettel wrapped up the title with three races left, two years after he\u2019d done it with four races remaining in 2011. Either side of these seasons, the 2010 and 2012 campaigns went to nail-bitingly close ends in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

Fan reaction was near universal. They despised the double points plan.<\/p>\n

F1 had it differently to NASCAR. Early season successes would boost a driver around the double-points pay off, while the reverse would keep them from competing for the title prize even with the late points bonanza in play.<\/p>\n

But this was a time where car reliability was nothing like it is in 2025 \u2014 in what was then the first year of the V6 turbo hybrid engine technology.<\/p>\n

There was therefore a very real possibility the otherwise memorable battle between title protagonists and Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg would be blighted by a mechanical malady.<\/p>\n

Hamilton had worked his way to a 17-point lead heading to Abu Dhabi \u2014 a gap that would\u2019ve ensured the title be decided only on the final day anyway, even with F1\u2019s regular points rules staying in place.<\/p>\n

Other than being regularly outpaced in qualifying that year, Hamilton had the measure of Rosberg when it mattered in the races and he\u2019d long looked a worthy champion.<\/p>\n

But, like Hamlin, he could still lose a title through no fault of his own, right at the death.<\/p>\n

In the end, it was Rosberg who suffered an engine energy recovery system issue while running second, after Hamilton had blasted by his pole-sitting teammate at Abu Dhabi\u2019s Turn 1. Hamilton was crowned (with the second of his seven F1 world titles) and the double points rule was then hurriedly dropped, not to be repeated in 2015 or onward.<\/p>\n

F1 realized it\u2019d made a mistake.<\/p>\n

What makes the 2025 title fight now so compelling is that it\u2019s a rare story in F1. This is the first time since 2010 that more than two drivers are even in the hunt for the ultimate prize.<\/p>\n

As Jeff noted<\/a>, \u201cActual Game 7 moments, like the one we saw in the World Series on Saturday night, are special because they don\u2019t happen every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hear, hear.<\/p>\n

Inside the Paddock with Madeline ColemanWhy Brazil\u2019s latest F1 star loves sim racing<\/p>\n

One of the reasons why Gabriel Bortoleto loves motorsport is because of the required perfection needed to succeed in this complex sport. But it\u2019s also the adrenaline rush that comes with it and how drivers \u201care always risking our lives gives me a little bit of an emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of his first home F1 race in Brazil, he described the feeling of being in the cockpit as \u201cthe only moment in my life that I\u2019m able to be fully focused on and my mind so concentrated that everything that is around disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n

F1 is one of the rare sports where you (largely) can\u2019t practice where you compete. With real-world testing so restricted these days, the majority of practice for the drivers takes place on simulators.<\/p>\n

\u201cSim racing is extremely important,\u201d Bortoleto told\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming something that in 10-15 years, there will be no drivers in the grid that are not doing it. I think it\u2019s a generational shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sim racing wasn\u2019t a hobby Bortoleto picked up because it was critical for his career development, though he said it does help him maximize his results.\u00a0Rather it was something he \u201calways loved to do because it was racing,\u201d and it could fit around his real-life schedule, day or night.<\/p>\n

Bortoleto is part of Team Redline, Verstappen\u2019s\u00a0sim racing team<\/a>, which he joined in 2023. Luke Browning, a Williams junior driver, told Bortoleto to join its Discord server one day, and different members of Team Redline were on the feed. From there, it became part of Bortoleto\u2019s routine. While he does \u201cmore free play,\u201d in the online racing world Bortoleto is \u201cscheduling more what I want to drive, and when do I want to drive \u2014 what races I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for our profile on Bortoleto and his journey to F1 that\u2019ll run later this week ahead of his home race at Interlagos.<\/p>\n

How F1 Team Radio Works \u2026\u2026 and why Fernando Alonso hates it<\/p>\n

So far this week, I\u2019ve spent more time delving into the subject of F1 broadcasting following my visit to F1\u2019s Media and Technology Center<\/a> near London last week for last Friday\u2019s edition of PT.<\/p>\n

Specifically, to explain how the championship selects what radio messages you hear played out between drivers and teams when the cars are on track.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The team radio editing suite at F1\u2019s Media and Technology Centre (Alex Kalinauckas\/The Athletic)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a controversial topic<\/a>\u00a0of late in F1, with Fernando Alonso even\u00a0sending a broadside<\/a>\u00a0at this part of F1\u2019s TV offering while racing two cars at last month\u2019s Mexico City GP. F1 drivers, honestly \u2026<\/p>\n

If you want to hear how a team of eight editors and producers can get a message uttered at 200 mph from a track around the world played out in your living room in just 15 seconds,\u00a0head here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outside the points<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Atlassian Williams Racing decided it would be called Atlassian Williams F1 Team for 2026 and felt the need to send out a press release about it on Monday.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc4f Bringing back Williams\u2019 original logo<\/a> is a nice touch, to be fair.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,576,12716,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-261668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-motorsports","12":"tag-nascar","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}