Race Review: Abu Dhabi GP - Verstappen Takes First World Title in Controversial End to the season

Well, where to even start? The 2021 Formula 1 Championship came down to the last lap of the last race after one of the best seasons in recent years. You couldn’t make it up. Max Verstappen was crowned as the first ever Dutch F1 World Champion, in a last lap scramble between the Championship contenders. The safety car, caused by Nicholas Latifi’s shunt into the barrier, was brought in on the last lap, as Verstappen overtook the 7-time world champion into Turn 5; the very same corner where he had attempted this overtake on the first lap.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a bittersweet ending to the season, with Kimi Räikkönen (the most experienced driver in F1 history) retiring after what would be his 349th race start and 20 years in the sport.

Antonio Giovinazzi also bade farewell (for now), as he will be making the move to Formula E next season with American team Dragon Penske Autosport. Alfa Romeo sported a special farewell message for both drivers; ‘Dear Kimi, We Will Leave You Alone Now,’ and ‘Grazie di Tutto Antonio.’

Valtteri Bottas will be taking one of the Alfa Romeo seats next season, after 5 years with Mercedes, and wore a special blue race suit and a helmet with polaroid’s showing his time with the team.

George Russell will be taking the Finn’s seat next season, with messages from the Williams team written on his helmet.

More than half the grid also wore special helmets for the final race of 2021, highlighting the excitement that the final race of the year has come to.

Free Practice

Free Practice 1 before the decider in the desert saw Max Verstappen go 3 tenths up on his championship rival by the end of the first session. Jack Aitken made his return to an F1 car, sitting in for George Russell in his Williams. And that wasn’t the only difference in FP1, with Alpine running a special rear wing saying ‘El Plan,’ for the rest of the weekend, as a nod to Fernando Alonso’s podium in Qatar.

Two changes have been made to the track in Abu Dhabi, including the elimination of the chicane at Turn 7, removal of the sharp corners at Turns 11,12,13 and 14 to create a long banked turn, and opening up Turns 17,18,19 and 20 to create a faster flowing section.

Lots of the cars were making good use of the runoff areas, with Vettel and Räikkönen spinning and both McLarens running heavily over the kerbs. Esteban Ocon had a wobble and nearly touched the wall at Turn 14, before his Alpine went into false neutral.

Leclerc was blocked by Verstappen going into the hotel section too, as the Dutchman topped the timesheets with a 1:25.009, followed by Bottas and Hamilton.

FP2 saw some contact with the walls, with Latifi losing the rear at Turn 13 and Bottas touching the barrier at Turn 14. Just as the session ended, Kimi Räikkönen had a huge shunt into the wall at Turn 14, after losing the rear of his Alfa Romeo. Hamilton topped Practice 2, with Ocon P2 and his teammate Bottas in P3.

Tensions ran high in FP3 as Hamilton blocked Mazepin on the run down to Turn 5, but received no penalty for the incident. A gusty session caused snaps of oversteer for the drivers, but no major contacts as in the previous session. Lando Norris finished best of the rest in P5, with Mercedes in P1 and P3 and Red Bull in P2 and P4.

Qualifying

In his final F1 qualifying session, Räikkönen was knocked out in Q1 along with the two Williams and two Haas’. His teammate Giovinazzi would be starting P14.

Lance Stroll couldn’t quite reach the top 10 in what would be his 100th race start in Formula 1. He was knocked out along with his teammate. Pierre Gasly was also knocked out in Q2, with this being his fourth time starting outside the top 10 all season.

After a tow from his teammate, Verstappen went on provisional pole, a position he held for the entire session, causing a championship contender lockout for the final race. Norris took P3; his best qualifying position since Sochi, with Perez slotting behind in P4.

The starting grid was as follows:

P1 Verstappen P2 Hamilton P3 Norris P4 Perez P5 Sainz P6 Bottas P7 Leclerc P8 Tsunoda P9 Ocon P10 Ricciardo P11 Alonso P12 Gasly P13 Stroll P14 Giovinazzi P15 Vettel P16 Latifi P17 Russell P18 Räikkönen P19 Schumacher P20 Mazepin

The Race

Only 19 drivers started the final race of 2021, as it was announced that morning that Nikita Mazepin had tested positive for Covid-19.

But soon enough, it was time for the finale.

Hamilton breezed past Verstappen at ‘lights out,’ taking the top spot, despite the polesitter starting on softs. Norris ran wide into Turn 1, with Perez taking P3 and Bottas dropped down to P8. Verstappen sent it into Turn 9, with Hamilton running off track due to the move, but the stewards claimed ‘no investigation necessary.’’

Lap 6 saw the Aston Martins almost touch as Vettel got past Stroll going into Turn 6. They finished P11 and P13 respectively.

Verstappen was the first to pit on Lap 14, going from softs to hards on what was expected to be his only stop of the race. Hamilton pitted a lap later, going from the mediums to the hards.

On lap 20, Perez began scrapping with Hamilton, as the Brit looked to retake P1. However, Perez kept him behind for a whole lap, both to damage his tyres and so Verstappen could gain back time after his pit stop. Not only did it take around 7 seconds off the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen, but Perez also gave the Dutchman DRS too, with Max quick on the radio to say ‘Checo is a legend.’’

Lap 26 saw an unfortunate end to Kimi Räikkönen’s Formula 1 career, after a brush with the barrier at Turn 6 caused a brake failure on his Alfa Romeo. The same lap saw an early end to George Russell’s time at Williams too, hobbling to the pits after suffering a gearbox issue.

As well as that, Antonio Giovinazzi’s time in F1 came to an untimely end, when on lap 35 he suffered a gearbox issue, causing a Virtual Safety Car. The Italian is the only driver to have finished all races in 2021, apart from the finale.

The VSC saw Verstappen pit for new tyres, bringing him out 17 seconds behind Hamilton, the result of this meaning he would have to make up 8 tenths a lap to catch him by the end of the race. Despite making up half a second as the VSC ended, it was wishful thinking for Verstappen who wasn’t lapping very close at all to the required 8 tenths.

With 10 laps to go, Hamilton began encountering backmarkers, including the fight between Leclerc and Ricciardo. However, he breezed past them, and by the time Verstappen encountered the trailing cars, he was 11 seconds behind.

Lando Norris pitted on lap 50 after a slow puncture, bringing him out in P7 behind the Alpines.

The end was in sight for Hamilton, and he was on course to take his 8th world title. But a late crash from Nicholas Latifi on lap 53 changed the whole course of the race. The Canadian had been fighting with Mick Schumacher and had hit the wall on the exit of Turn 14. A safety car was brought out, and Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, with Hamilton staying on the hards.

With just 4 laps to go, there was some speculation as to whether the race would end under the safety car, which is a perfectly legal thing to do in Formula 1.

Perez retired on lap 56, promoting Carlos Sainz to P3.

The FIA sent out a message saying that lapped cars were not allowed to overtake, before changing their minds as the safety car came into the pits and the last lap was started, meaning only 5 cars managed to unlap themselves at the race restart. This caused Verstappen to be right on Hamilton’s tail, and he made the race-winning move into Turn 5.

New soft tyres, against old hard tyres, the winner will be the same every time. Into Turn 5 Max Verstappen dived and took the lead of the race. Lewis Hamilton looked like he was battling back but couldn’t quite make it.

This meant we had a new World Champion. The 24 year old Dutchman took the chequered flag, with Mercedes taking the Constructors’ Championship.

Tsunoda finished P4, his best race finish in F1, after pitting for softs under the safety car, with teammate Gasly in P5. Leclerc’s similar strategy to pit under the safety car didn’t pay off, and the Ferrari driver finished in P10, with Carlos Sainz finishing P3; his 4th podium finish of the season.

The final race order was as follows:

P1 Verstappen P2 Hamilton P3 Sainz P4 Tsunoda P5 Gasly P6 Bottas P7 Norris P8 Alonso P9 Ocon P10 Leclerc P11 Vettel P12 Ricciardo P13 Stroll P14 Schumacher DNF Perez DNF Latifi DNF Giovinazzi DNF Russell DNF Räikkönen

Driver of the Day: Perez

Kimi Räikkönen taking Driver of the Day was the perfect farewell to the Finn (we must admit, we voted for him!) but for us, Perez takes the award. He played the team game in Abu Dhabi, and it really paid off. His defending against Hamilton was kudos to his experience in the sport, holding him up for over 7 seconds and despite retiring just before the end of the race, his hard work was worth it, helping teammate Verstappen take his first world title.

Biggest Crash: Räikkönen

Not what Räikkönen would’ve wanted in his final FP2 session, but his shunt into the wall at Turn 14 brought out the red flag just as the session ended.

Overtake of the Day: Verstappen on Hamilton

The race-winning move from the Dutchman. Sending it cleanly up the inside of Turn 5, Verstappen kept Hamilton behind for the rest of the lap, despite his best efforts to retake P1.

Biggest Heartbreak: Hamilton

There is absolutely no contention for this award. After making no mistakes and dominating for the whole race, Hamilton could almost taste his record-breaking 8th world title. Yet through no fault of his own, the crown was taken away from him, and after fighting so hard all season, it’s a bittersweet ending for him, as Mercedes take their 8th consecutive Constructors’ Championship title.

Best Team Radio: Verstappen

Emotions ran high as Verstappen crossed the line. We don’t think there’s much else to say really unless you watch the video. Add in Alex Albon screaming down the radio, there is not much more you could want!

Shout out to Sebastian Vettel who asked if he won 1 million jelly beans for winning the Crypto Overtaking award.

You can watch the full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJxG6S_ys6Y

Takeaways

Lots of controversy surrounding the season finale, with neither Red Bull nor Mercedes doing anything wrong. Perhaps the FIA wanted more of a ‘show-stopping’ last lap drama, by breaking Article 48.12 of the F1 Sporting Regulations on how the safety car is controlled, rather than a fair sporting race. Only half of the lapped cars overtook the safety car, and not all. We feel that this is going to be one of those controversial moments in history, that people will still be arguing about centuries down the line.

Carlos Sainz, take a bow. Finishing in P3, the Spaniard has had what can only be described as an epic season, finishing best of the rest in P5 in the Drivers’ Championship and ahead of his teammate in his very first season with Ferrari. The very definition of ‘underrated.’

And what a great finish for AlphaTauri! Despite not managing to take back P5 in the Constructors’ Championship, the Italian team finished the season on a high, after a few rocky races prior.

We’re not sure about you, but after this season, we’re certainly ready for a break!