2021 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2021 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.jpg

Who will win the 2021 World Championship?

  • Max Verstappen

    Votes: 1,428 62.8%

  • Lewis Hamilton

    Votes: 845 37.2%
  • Total voters
    2,273
  • Poll closed .
Formula 1 enters the season finale of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with the driver’s championship leaders tied on points.

After a roller coaster ride of a season in F1, the final event of 2021 will be held in Abu Dhabi and will decide the championship battle between Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. The two drivers are even on points entering the race.

Verstappen has won more races this year than Hamilton, so if the two end up finishing even after this race due to neither scoring points, the championship would go to Verstappen. Momentum seems to be with Hamilton after back-to-back-to-back race wins in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, though points momentum has never lasted long this season.

The Yas Marina circuit is a location where both drivers have won in the past, with Hamilton having won numerous times at the track, and Verstappen being the most recent winner. The layout has been altered for 2021 to encourage more overtaking.

Looking away from the feature act of this race weekend, the constructor’s battle between Mercedes and Red Bull seems to be all but decided, with Mercedes holding a 28-point advantage. With Hamilton and Verstappen cancelling each other out on points, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas have been involved in a lower profile battle than their teammates, but one full of surprises just the same.

This will also be the last time we see certain drivers in F1, or the last time we see them with their current teams. Perhaps the biggest departure is Kimi Räikkönen, who will retire from driving after Abu Dhabi. Kimi’s teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi, will also vacate his F1 seat after this season and will race in Formula E next year instead. One of the Alfa Romeo team seats will be filled by Bottas, who will finish this year third in the driver’s standings. His current seat at Mercedes will be filled by George Russell.

This looks to be an exciting finish to a season filled with drama and shocking moments. Let’s hope that we see the best from each of the championship contenders this weekend.

Qualification Results​

1Max VERSTAPPENRed Bull1:22.109
2Lewis HAMILTONMercedes1:22.480
3Lando NORRISMcLaren1:22.931
4Sergio PÉREZRed Bull1:22.947
5Carlos SAINZFerrari1:22.992
6Valtteri BOTTASMercedes1:23.036
7Charles LECLERCFerrari1:23.122
8Yuki TSUNODAAlpha Tauri1:23.220
9Esteban OCONAlpine1:23.389
10Daniel RICCIARDOMcLaren1:23.409
11Fernando ALONSOAlpine1:23.460
12Pierre GASLYAlpha Tauri1:24.043
13Lance STROLLAston Martin1:24.066
14Antonio GIOVINAZZIAlfa Romeo1:24.251
15Sebastian VETTELAston Martin1:24.305
16Nicholas LATIFIWilliams1:24.338
17George RUSSELLWilliams1:24.423
18Kimi RÄIKKÖNENAlfa Romeo1:24.779
19Mick SCHUMACHERHaas1:24.906
20Nikita MAZEPINHaas1:25.685

Race Results​

1Max VERSTAPPENRed BullLAP 58
2Lewis HAMILTONMercedes2.256
3Carlos SAINZFerrari5.173
4Yuki TSUNODAAlpha Tauri5.692
5Pierre GASLYAlpha Tauri6.531
6Valtteri BOTTASMercedes7.463
7Lando NORRISMcLaren59.2
8Fernando ALONSOAlpine61.708
9Esteban OCONAlpine64.026
10Charles LECLERCFerrari66.057
11Sebastian VETTELAston Martin67.527
12Daniel RICCIARDOMcLaren+1L
13Lance STROLLAston Martin+1L
14Mick SCHUMACHERHaas+1L
15Sergio PÉREZRed BullDNF
16Nicholas LATIFIWilliamsDNF
17Antonio GIOVINAZZIAlfa RomeoDNF
18George RUSSELLWilliamsDNF
19Kimi RÄIKKÖNENAlfa RomeoDNF

What are your thoughts on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix? Let us know on Twitter at @RaceDepartment or in the comments section below!

Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

D
Ken Verhagen said:
Why not fair? Mercedes had the same option to pit and switch tires but elected not to because they didn't want to conceed track position. Michael Masi would have made the same decision whether or not Mercedes had decided to pit or not. Mercedes just made a bad call and it didn't work out for them. That's racing
Click to expand...
It was unfair because under rule 39.12 :
a) no cars allowed to unlap: Verstappen would have had to overtake the backmarkers between him and Hamilton
b) all cars allowed to unlap: the race would have ended under the safety car

There is no option c - some cars allowed to unlap. It's all or none.

Rules broken left Verstappen with an easy win.

It's as simple as that.
 
Last edited:
JohannesK
Ken Verhagen said:
I don't agree with your premise that Michael made a mistake in his decision. So no we can't all agree on that.
Click to expand...
First off: I think Max deserved the title and the decision should not be overturned. But saying that Masi made the right decision is delusional. They could've shown a red flag, they could've made the (right) decision to let lapped cars past earlier and do it the right way.

Masi is bad for the sport and made several bad calls this year's that are unprecedented
 
S
Terry Rock said:
Lewis would not want to win by an overturned decision....(which will never happen by the way).
He is simply not that kind of champion.
He got mugged today by a bad decision on the part of the race director.
If this was in the interest of fairness...a red flag would have been shown...followed by a rolling re-start.
He was always going to get mugged on old tires after that lead was eroded by the safety car.
Who won driver of the day?
Click to expand...
You must be extremely close with Lewis to know such details.

I would have guessed either of these guys would want to win any way they can.
 
Enthilzha
Scottt said:
Again, the race director is the independent decision maker. you may disagree with their decision, but this isn’t going to be decided by The Hague. And if it was, what if you also disageee with their decision? Do they also stop being independent? Do we then send it to th Vatican? Or the United Nations?

the decision was made.
Click to expand...
I am not saying that the decisions made were either right or wrong (though the process to get there was clearly farcical). There are plenty of instances of retrospective action being taken even after initial decisions have been made and I just wonder if this may end up in some court or other.
 
T
Terry Rock said:
Lewis would not want to win by an overturned decision....(which will never happen by the way).
He is simply not that kind of champion.
He got mugged today by a bad decision on the part of the race director.
If this was in the interest of fairness...a red flag would have been shown...followed by a rolling re-start.
He was always going to get mugged on old tires after that lead was eroded by the safety car.
Who won driver of the day?
Click to expand...
Kimi
 
T
daveclifton said:
It was unfair because under rule 39.12 :
a) no cars allowed to unlap: Verstappen would have had to overtake the backmarkers between him and Hamilton
b) all cars allowed to unlap: the race would have ended under the safety car

There is no option c - some cars allowed to unlap. It's all or none.

Rules broken left Verstappen with an easy win.

It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
And the decision to change tyres; Mercedes played it safe
 
Last edited:
PegaMixel
thepharcyde said:
And the decision to change tyres; Mercedes played it safe
Click to expand...
Hamilton was just past the pit entry when the safety car was called, you can clearly see that in the reaply. After that, staying out was the ONLY option to not fall behind a bunch of cars.
 
D
BP said:
That was the right call…if they ruled on it, it would be worse for Max. He late brake dived into the corner and left Lewis zero room to stay on track. The contact happened because max left no room, that’s not racing that’s bullying your way through. You can’t push ppl off track (leave no room on track to go side by side) and get away with it every time.
Click to expand...
I would agree if Lewis had backed up to Max, they were side by side, Max even slightly ahead. Clearly Lewis gained a huge amount of track space by cutting the corner. I don't think it would have mattered though, the early pace of the Merc easily outpaced the RB.
 
muzikant
daveclifton said:
It was unfair because under rule 39.12 :
a) no cars allowed to unlap: Verstappen would have had to overtake the backmarkers between him and Hamilton
b) all cars allowed to unlap: the race would have ended under the safety car

There is no option c - some cars allowed to unlap. It's all or none.

Rules broken left Verstappen with an easy win.

It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
fine. and how often has Max been disadvantaged? This time Max fell his way
 
Ken Verhagen
daveclifton said:
It was unfair because under rule 39.12 :
a) no cars allowed to unlap: Verstappen would have had to overtake the backmarkers between him and Hamilton
b) all cars allowed to unlap: the race would have ended under the safety car

There is no option c - some cars allowed to unlap. It's all or none.

Rules broken left Verstappen with an easy win.

It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
clearly not as simple as that. We will see if the result is overturned. Extremely doubtful.
 
D
JayOTT said:
Someone in a Discord server I'm in brought up the possibility of the entire race getting annulled due to incorrect procedure. There is precedent for this too, notably the 1986 San Remo rally where Lancia won because the Italian stewards disqualified all the Peugeots. That result getting cancelled decided the championship in the final Group B season. Of course if that were to happen here too, Verstappen still has the tiebreaker over Hamilton so nothing changes.
Click to expand...
There was some championship, I think in sportscars, where Ferrari won the title by lobbying for the last race to be canceled. Can't remember the specifics though.
 
R
tigermilk said:
If just this race, sure. But he has lost control of the ship over the course of a season. A new captain is needed.
Click to expand...
Agree. I've generally tried to defend Masi on quite a few occasions (mainly bc people don't understand the distinction between Race Director and stewards, but also over a couple of other events this year as well), but the last few races have seen some very, very poor decisions. I don't see him as Race Director next season
 
ML2166
Premium
Neither team or driver have done anything wrong in this situation, I think everyone would agree on that. Red Bull have simply crossed the line first given the circumstances both teams found themselves in.

But I think the nature of what was a stake has played a huge role in the decision that was made to go racing again, in the way that it happened.

Yes there is no rule that says lapped cars have to be let go, but to say they are not letting them un lap themselves, then to switch that decision so quickly and so late was a wrong call.

If this had been the 3rd race of the year for arguments sake, non title contenders and it was Alonso, chasing down Norris, would the race have finished under a safety car or would a similar decision to todays one been made?

I personally think it would have been a safety car finish, and it's just the importance of this result that possibly made the decision thought process different. Which in itself is wrong.

It has been an awesome season for a change, both drivers in there own way deserve it, it just seems Masi has decided the title race instead of the drivers? So how can you resolve this?

I'd say because of the nature of the back and forth this year, and both kinda deserving of the title, Just give it to both of them....... after all it's been one of those unusual years, so why not?
 
Steven Poirier
daveclifton said:
It was unfair because under rule 39.12 :
a) no cars allowed to unlap: Verstappen would have had to overtake the backmarkers between him and Hamilton
b) all cars allowed to unlap: the race would have ended under the safety car

There is no option c - some cars allowed to unlap. It's all or none.

Rules broken left Verstappen with an easy win.

It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
Anyway, FIA didnt check the fact Hamilton cut a turn and gain avantage to stay ahead of Verstappen, kind of Karma at the endind
 
zwiss
muzikant said:
fine. and how often has Max been disadvantaged? This time Max fell his way
Click to expand...
This goes to prove that the FIA were NEVER deliberately trying to advantage Lewis, NEVER!
They always tried to do a good job, but today's tracks and aggressive ways of racing make it very hard to judge sometimes.
Lewis was very lucky sometimes, and today Max got his share, and I am happy that he won.
I really hope they will not change the outcome of the race and championship.
 

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