Outside Line: Something big is going to happen

Granted, a new Formula 1 World Champion could be crowned in Abu Dhabi at the season finale, that’s huge. But I’m thinking of things slightly more ominous, or not, but something "big" says my gut. I don’t know why. It’s just a premonition based on where we are this season.

Heading to Round 21 of 24, the Brazilian Grand Prix, the stage is set for one of the closest three-way battles for a Formula 1 title in the history of the sport, barring when Keke Rosberg won it by a point back in 1982, when several drivers could've been Champion. The last time we had anything remotely as close as this was in 2021... and we all know how that turned out.

I ask myself: has Formula 1 really learned lessons from that night? I don’t know if they have, because that night remains a hot talking point to this day. Poor old Toto Wolff is still bleating about it, and I guess he’ll do that all the way to his grave. It was a very, very bad night for our sport. We will soon enough know if experience has been a good teacher.

I got a bit of a hint of something brewing when the FIA-appointed F1 Stewards dropped the ball, in my opinion, on some key occasions during the Mexico City Grand Prix, which actually did fiddle with the outcome of the race. I won't go into detail.

For me, stepping back from that race, reading what pundits say, the comments by our readers, listening to the chatter within our WhatsApp group, balls were dropped. An intervention occurred when perhaps none was needed. It’s all very well when we’re in Round 20, but the stakes ramp up now. With every race, the spotlight will increasingly fall on FIA officials to make the right calls.

Mistakes may be made which might impact the Championship. I sincerely hope - and this is just me thinking aloud - that none of this happens.

In fact, my premonition was not specific about what this will be. "It's just gonna be big...", it tells me with a shrug. So if it ain't that. Then maybe this “Papaya Rules” thing. I feel there’s something there, something karmic, just waiting to backfire.

Which reminds me, I still have a stone in my shoe about that driver swap when my team messed up in the pits with Norris and ordered a swap. What did I just see? In my book, they still owe Piastri one for that fiasco, and I don’t know when they’re going to give it to him.

Maybe the premonition isn’t McLaren nor FIA-related. Another possible "big thing" my premonition could be alluding to is a positive one, that Max actually blows the Papaya boys away. If he somehow beats them and snatches the Title on the last lap of the last race of this incredible 2025 season. That would be the story of the century. A very big deal.

But then that "something big" may well be none of the above I hope, apart from the Max option, of course. I hope fate proves me wrong and that this is a clean, well-decided battle without FIA F1 Stewards' ball drops. And at the end of it all, the guy in first place will have the biggest smile on the night, and the guy in second will have the second-biggest grin. Unlikely. Usually, the guy in second has the biggest scowl.

Let’s see what happens as we embark on what should be an epic four rounds, including the Yas Marina finale on 7 December, with Sao Paulo this weekend, then Las Vegas, followed by Qatar. Watch this space!