- Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the 2021
Formula One Driver's Championship on Sunday in dramatic fashion. - With 10 laps to go, Red Bull boss
Christian Horner asked for help from the "racing gods."
Christian Horner appeared to believe that most, if not all, hope was lost on Sunday at Abu Dhabi.
As team principal of
But with 10 laps to go, the situation looked dire. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was leading by 11 seconds, and Verstappen had a set of four cars worth of lapped traffic to fight through.
Even with Hamilton on a fading set of tires, he looked to be more than capable of holding off any late charge Red Bull could muster.
Speaking live with the TV commentary team as the race entered its final stages, Horner seemed somewhat resigned to Red Bull's apparent fate, and asked for a miracle.
"The pace of the Mercedes is just too strong today," Horner said. "Max is driving his heart out out there but we're going to need a miracle in these last 10 laps to turn it around. He'll give it everything but the clock's ticking.
"He's got four cars to go through. He needs some luck from the racing gods on these last 10 laps. We're going to give it everything as we have done all year. He'll drive his heart out the last ten laps. You can guarantee that."
It only took a few laps for the racing gods to deliver on Horner's prayer.
With just five laps of racing left, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed into a barrier, bringing a safety car out onto the track and slowing the entire racing field.
—Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021
With the safety car deployed, Verstappen pitted to take a set of soft tires, while Hamilton stayed out on the track, wary of losing track position.
After another controversial decision from race control, which helped dissolve the previously problematic bit of lapped traffic in front of Verstappen, we were left with one final lap of racing between Verstappen and Hamilton with the title on the line.
On his fresher tires, Verstappen quickly jumped in front, but Lewis fought back as hard as he could with one last-gasp effort. It wasn't enough. Max Verstappen was world champion.
—ESPN (@espn) December 12, 2021
After the race, Horner acknowledged that his prayers had been answered.
"I think I called it on the commentary that we were going to need something from the racing gods in the last 10 laps," Horner said.
"Thank you Nicholas Latifi for that safety car."
The racing gods shows themselves to us in many ways, and on Sunday, they came to Horner, Verstappen, and the entirety of the Red Bull garage in the form of a late Nicholas Latifi crash.
What a way to win a title.