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

Spongeinside
Premium
My heart almost gave out a few times during this one pff... in the end we got what we got, in my case, a result I didn't dare dream about or could have even thought of 20+ years ago when I was watching Jos Verstappen race and cheering for him to do well... Now to have a Dutch Formula 1 world champion AND him being the son of my childhood hero is just amazing. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it to be honest. I've been playing ETS 2 for the past few hours just to calm down a bit and to keep me away from the toxic wasteland that is Twitter...
 
K
JohannesK said:
At least that was not unprecedented, that's a clear thing to everyone and just last week it benefitted
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Yes, but I doubt there would not have been a huge controversy nonetheless.

Plus, the amount of debris on the track and the absence of damage to the wall at the point of impact didn’t warrant a red flag. A safety car was the right call. What is debatable is the decision to allow lapped cars to unlap themselves *and* end the safety car period on the same lap. The FIA clearly wanted to end the race under green flag conditions.
 
D

  • Deleted member 1031992

Kingkoenig said:
Yes, but I doubt there would not have been a huge controversy nonetheless.

Plus, the amount of debris on the track and the absence of damage to the wall at the point of impact didn’t warrant a red flag. A safety car was the right call. What is debatable is the decision to allow lapped cars to unlap themselves *and* end the safety car period on the same lap. The FIA clearly wanted to end the race under green flag conditions.
Click to expand...
Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher also had the right to unlap themselves but no
 
muzikant
jonelsorel said:
Merc may be sour losers, but boy did this feel like 1989 all over again! Thanks FIA! I didn't really forget how you could trample over your own regulations in order to have the right winner. And nobody will forget Spa 2021 either, when you let the race run in impossible to race conditions for 2 laps behind the safety car just so Max can "win" it. This is how this drivers' championship was won as well. I was hoping for an ending completely void of politics, but hey, THIS is F1! :D

Most important rule of a certain Charlie Whiting was "thou shall not take a piss". He's surely missed.
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yess and dont forget Bahrein.. Silverstone..Hungaria ;)
 
T
Corbyy said:
The problem is that:
if Latifi had crashed on lap 52, the last lap without SC would have respected the rules
if Latifi had crashed on lap 54, the race would have ended under SC

But on lap 53, we are in this gray area where Masi took the liberty of shortening the period under SC by breaking rules
Click to expand...
That's not entirely true and reading the rules carefully aswell the conclusion by the FIA makes it pretty obvious that there were no rules broken. As per the regulations, the race director has full controll over the SC and can do what ever he wants with it as he has the last word. And it's clearly not the first time, that lapped cars had the opportunity to unlap them self to make the room free for a last lap(s) shootout. And after those cars unlap themself, the SC has to get back in, that's written in the rules aswell. RB also pointed out a very obvious hole in the wording of that paragraph. This was agreed on by the teams to avoid races ending behind the SC and to make racing more exciting. I guess the Mercedes guys were involved in that agreement aswell. What happened after the Latiffi crash was following the regulations. What happened in Lap 1 was actually more questionable.

Besides that, people easily forget that Lewis was handed a full lap and free rapair at Imola that gave him how many points? What would have been the driver standings like without those points? Mercedes can't just live with the fact that they made bad strategy calls being too passive, while RB was alot more proactive with luck heading their way. Lewis and Mercedes have been so damn lucky throughout the last couple of years, it might be worth it to take it like racers and not like a brand with cars that are mostly driven by old people with too much money.
 
Bazooka_Joe
I'm really hoping for rules clarifications and to introduce a solid system for penalties in 2022. Lap 1 was not in line with previous races decisions and inconsistency, shady negotiations and stewarding drama have to go. I've seen amateur simracing leagues had better penalties applied. We should not see this sort of incompetency in the alleged pinnacle of motorsports.

I admire Masi for arranging the last lap fight though - while indeed controversial it produced a spectacle that will be remembered for years to come. If finished behind safety car we'd have a different kind of drama too and potential appeals from Red Bull. Sure lessons have been learnt this season and what a season this was!
 
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T
Corbyy said:
Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher also had the right to unlap themselves but no
Click to expand...
Again, read the paragraph correctly. As RB pointed out, "any" cars doesn't mean "all" cars. Time to fix that for next season.

Btw, I think the article 15 (e) is much more of an issue than anything else for Mercedes. Because that one gives Massi all the options to override the other SC rules. But as predicted, I allready predicted that this title wouldn't be decided on track.
 
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ParkYongLee
tr1v1um said:
Again, read the paragraph correctly. As RB pointed out, "any" cars doesn't mean "all" cars. Time to fix that for next season.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I wrote here already and people wanted to correct me :D
Masi is a poor guy, he is alone in a position which was once filled by a person with supporting staff. He can't do it all on his own, especially with Kindergarden team bosses whining in his ears 24/7 from multiple directions.
 
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K
DevlNando said:
I cannot even imagine what Latifi must be feeling right now...
Click to expand...
Pretty crappy because he spun out with dirty tires while needlessly fighting for last place with Schumacher. That said, he should not feel responsible for the controversy that ended the championship. It wasn’t his call.
 
D

  • Deleted member 1031992

An ordinary CAS procedure lasts 6 to 12 months so it won't surprise me if we know the winner of the 2022 season before the winner of the 2021 season
 
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ParkYongLee said:
Exactly what I wrote here already and people wanted to correct me :D
Masi is a poor guy, he is alone in a position which was once filled by a person with supporting staff. He can't do it all on his own, especially with Kindergarden team bosses whining in his ears 24/7 from multiple directions.
Click to expand...
I am not sure if Massi is a poor guy. It's his job and he earns quite a "bit" of money doing that job. I am pretty sure he knows the main bullet points like the 15.3 by heart. I am questioning if it is a good idea to let the teams have direct influence on the desicion via radio. Communication happens actually too fast in that particular case. I mean, Toto screaming on the radio like a little child during the last lap really made me lol. Same as RB discussing the T1 incident on the Radio for a couple of laps. That's stuff that should be easy to decide while consistently applying the rules.

What puzzles me a bit is that so called "race" fans want to see the race ending behind the SC just to get their baby home safely. Get real guys. What happened today should happen everytime. Clean race tracks as fast as possible and give the fans as much real racing as possible. We pay a fortune for it.
 

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