There really aren’t many talking points from this race. But whatever talking points there are are major going into the final race of the season.

Before any of that, let’s discuss the smaller elephant in the room. Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko had no reason to speak in that way about Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Not disappointed, nor am I surprised, really. They don’t control how people react, that’s true. But saying things you know will get broadcast and cause a stir is intentional and under your control.

Antonelli made a mistake; it’s as simple as that. Passing judgment like that without verifying the truth is beyond unprofessional. To round off, Lambiase and Marko were wrong. But even more wrong is leaving hate comments in a child’s comment section. Formula One is a sport that we all watch because we enjoy it. It truly is not life or death. And at the end of the day, Antonelli is 19 and has achieved great things already. So, who’s the real loser?

Now, on to the bigger elephants. I’m not sure how many different ways I can say that McLaren was totally unprepared for the title fight. But here’s my penultimate attempt (if Verstappen wins the title, I’ll be back here to say it again): You know when you go back for seconds after being told not to, and then halfway through the plate, you just stare at the plate because you have no idea what you’re doing? That’s McLaren.

I say this with all due respect, if a McLaren driver is not the champion next week, it’s on the strategy team — not the drivers, the engineers or the mechanics. Sure, the drivers have made mistakes. They have limited capacity to make decisions from the cockpit. But the strategy team has all the data and resources to make the right choice.

What am I on about? Oscar Piastri finally looked like himself after a six-race podium-less spell. He landed in Qatar with one goal: get as close to his teammate, Lando Norris, as possible in the championship. And he was out of the blocks like Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. He finally looked like the driver that led the championship for 15 rounds. He topped every session except the one with the 25-point payout.

The Grand Prix. For a bit of context, Pirelli estimated that the tires could not do more than 25 laps in the race. The Qatar Grand Prix has 54 laps. On lap seven, Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly made contact, bringing out the safety car. This was the perfect opportunity to pit. The other nine teams thought so at least. McLaren, for whatever reason, did not. Despite running in first and third, the team chose to keep both drivers on the same strategy.

This isn’t a case of jumping off a bridge with your friends. This is a case of jumping off the bridge after your friends saw sharks in the water. This decision cost Norris the opportunity to become world champion in Qatar. It also cost Piastri the chance to close up the gap — and he drove faultlessly. The subsequent meltdown from fans on X has been a fun read. The neighbors’ gossip sounds so good.

Anyway, despite being the best driver over the weekend, Piastri is now third in the championship, 16 points off Norris heading into Abu Dhabi. It’s not an impossible gap to overcome: Sebastian Vettel did in 2010.

Here’s how Piastri wins: He wins, Verstappen can finish as high as second, and Norris has to finish sixth or lower. Look, I said I wanted the championship to come down to the wire, and it has. But not in the way I wanted. It’s like rubbing the lamp but each wish the genie grants has a catch. The catch is that this was a very boring title fight.

Anyway, the second of the two larger elephants is how bad the race actually was.

The sprint race had one overtake on pace after lap one. Why did I wake up at 9 a.m. to watch that during my Thanksgiving break?

And then, the Grand Prix was a useless bag of broken bones. The track was purposely built for Moto GP bikes, not Formula 1 cars. There is only one DRS zone, which makes for very little overtaking, at least with these regulations. Note that in 2023, George Russell recovered from last place on lap one to finish fourth.

The forced tire strategy was just a waste. How many times can someone scream that races should be won on track and not in the pit lane? Obviously, I like when pit stops shake things up. However, when 18 cars pit on the same lap, it’s not a game anymore — but somehow, there are always losers.

To be honest, there’s not much else to say. Sports are not about hate. Shithousery, yes, but hate? No. I’m somewhat excited for Abu Dhabi. But mostly, I’m excited that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc can be rid of this car in a few days.

About the Contributors

Olufolake Okunsanya is a fourth year Business major concentrating in finance with a minor in sports media and communications. She is a staff member of The News’ section where she serves as the beat writer for the men’s basketball team. A passionate Formula One fan, she also writes the column Chequered Flag. You can follow her on X @Folake_Okuns.

Laila Guzman Griffin is a first-year journalism and political science combined major, and a staff member at The News, where she primarily covers city issues, politics and design. You can follow her on Instagram @laila_s_gg.