F1 finale’s lesson for Raila and others
After his ‘coronation’ as the Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate, ODM leader Raila Odinga should have taken time out over the weekend to pay close attention to the final race of the 2021 Formula 1 championships.
He could have joined his political partner, President Uhuru Kenyatta, in watching the Sunday showdown. From the motorsport fan he might have picked up some of the finer points of what makes a Grand Prix winner.
The race provided a fitting epitaph to a season filled with intense competition, bitter rivalry, recriminations, finger-pointing and complaints of foul play.
In the climax to the closest and most intense championship decider in living memory, the showdown at the Yas Marina Circuit was itself riddled with controversy, and a contentious outcome that was immediately challenged.
The route to the finale had laid the groundwork for what was to come. The 22nd and last race of the season started with the two contenders — the seasoned Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes aiming for a record eighth title and young upstart Max Verstappen looking to his first — tied on points.
Topsy-turvy championship
Nobody else was within shouting distance but the rest of the field had not been reduced to mere onlookers. They had the capacity to influence the outcome, whether by design, accident or incident.
And that is why not just Mr Odinga, but also his main rivals should make videos of the F1 season on to the grand finale mandatory viewing.
Without going back to the drama and intrigues of a topsy-turvy championship, suffice to say that with 10 laps to go in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton seemed to be coasting to a comfortable victory that would cement his status as GOAT in F1 folklore.
Then everything unravelled in an incident where none of the front-runners had direct input. One of the supporting cast, Nicholas Latifi, smashed his Wiliams into the barriers.
The race was suspended while the stricken car was removed from the track. Under the Yellow Flag rules, all the competitors follow in sedate procession behind a safety car, with no overtaking allowed.
Verstappen took astute advantage of the interregnum to bolt on a set of fresh, faster tyres; and when racing resumed with just one lap to go, he managed to barge past Hamilton who was on worn and slower tyres. Game over.
Nobody could have seen such an ending dictated by an event neither of the principal contenders had a hand in.
That is the big lesson from Abu Dhabi for Mr Odinga, as well as his principal rival, Deputy President William Ruto; and all the other declared and presumed contenders such as former Vice Presidents Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka.
The most unexpected of happenings can turn things upside down. It ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings. There are no reliable opinion polls yet on likely winners of the 2022 presidential election in the present situation where there are no official candidates, and line-ups and alliances are still evolving.
One can safely deduce, however, that if punters have thus far given Dr Ruto a clear lead over Mr Odinga; the latter should enjoy a handsome upsurge in his rating with the formal declaration of his candidacy and endorsement of key regional blocs.
In the absence of any reliable polls, the safest thing for pundits right now might be to place the two neck-and-neck in a two-horse race.
Public adulation
That leaves the alternative candidates such Mr Mudavadi to determine the outcome by either staying in the race and denying the front-runners key population blocs, or striking deals to pull out throwing support behind the successful suitor.
For Mr Odinga, the filip from Azimio must be tempered by the knowledge that apparent public adulation can be illusory.
He has approached elections in the past, notably 2007 against President Mwai Kibaki and 2013 against Mr Kenyatta, where he seemed to be a shoo-in for State House, only for things to unravel on the last lap.
Right now Mr Odinga’s supporters are giddy with the support he enjoys from President Kenyatta, the Mount Kenya region elite, and the government system.
President Kenyatta has only one vote, as do the Mt Kenya potentates. They do not control a region where the grassroots presently seem to favour Dr Ruto.
The money central Kenya fellows will be keen to show the region that supporting Mr Odinga means power remains at ‘home’ through proxy.
They will try to force their favoured running-mate on Mr Odinga, and also encumber his line-up with tenderpreneurs, Covid billionaires and other disreputable characters.
He might have been handed a poisoned chalice. BY DAILY NATION
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