It makes a lot of sense that the ending affects the entire experience. We tend to implicitly assume that things will proceed as they have in the past, following

It makes a lot of sense that the ending affects the entire experience. We tend to implicitly assume that things will proceed as they have in the past, following a trajectory. So, to use the Formula One example, since he started strong and finished weak, it's perfectly reasonable to believe that if there were more races, he would have continued to do badly and lose the championship. But if he had started weak and finished strong, then it's an easy assumption that if there were more races he would have continued to do well.