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

Durge Driven
I found it incredible that none of Sky BBC, 3 World Champions, assorted F1 drivers, none of them knew it's at the director's discretion how and when a SC is deployed and how he deals with un-lapping cars.

Sure I never knew either but they getting paid $$$$$$ to know.

I also found it rich they all standing around after the race basically accused Horner of trying to coerce the director when Toto did exact same thing.

P.S. Another thing, Max's reaction when told the SC was not un-lapping cars. ( Actually the Director never said what he was going to do up to that stage )
Anyways point being Max had a chuckle when told, that is how well his head is screwed on, disposition, etc.
 
Last edited:
Mekonrider
Durge Driven said:
I found it incredible that none of Sky BBC, 3 World Champions, assorted F1 drivers, none of them knew it's at the director's discretion how and when a SC is deployed and how he deals with un-lapping cars.
Click to expand...
I guess it is a bit the police. They know what the law generally is but also apply it incorrectly sometimes with judges and solicitors knowing what the law really is.
 
Motorhead68
Premium
Yesterday a sport that many of us love lost its credibility and respect.

This is not about Lewis or Max (both have shown great skill, courage and passion all season), it's about all the drivers, all the teams of skilled engineers, mechanics, the people we don't see working behind the scenes - they work tirelessly, the drivers (literally - unlike us Simracers) put their lives on the line - and yes, we want excitement and drama but that cannot be at the expense of integrity.

F1 & FIA needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and decide if it wants to be a sport or a reality TV show.
 
Last edited:
jonelsorel
"King of motorsports", eh?
What a sham.

Everyone thought the front contenders would take each other out, worst case scenario. Yesterday was one of those days in which the billion dollar business called F1 gave the shadow of a sport called F1 a kick to the teeth in front of tens of millions of people. And most of them cheered.

1639384908166.png
 
Last edited:
Sasha Jednak
PegaMixel said:
What matters at the end is that we whitnessed what was probably the greatest F1 season of all time. Maybe 2012 was a tiny bit better with more people involved but thats for everybody self to decide.

This will be a season that many, many people will look back in like 30-40 years, just like we look back at the "golden age".
Who knew that after all those years of dull tasting, Mercedes dominance, we whitnessed what was truly greatness in every way.

I was almost jealous of people who were old enough to fully appreciate these great battles of the past, rather than being a toddler or kid who just watched some cars racing.

I no longer am.

2021 was amazing.

Thank you Mercedes, thank you Red Bull, thank you Lewis, thank you and congratulations Max.
Click to expand...
Can one of the mods pin this comment... So far the best thing I saw in this thread!
 
Sasha Jednak
Congrats Max on #1 and Merc on #8, well done.

As a non-merc fan, I like that they chose racing yesterday. Starting with lap1, where Max went to deep and Hamilton only could go off track. That should always be no call, and those were messed up in previous races but not yesterday. And in the end, doing enough to get this fantastic season to finish racing and not cruising behind SC. Now, someone needs to start formula competition that will not be driven by media and forced to play radio for drama.
 
Damage Inc
Chris Down said:
To be clear, I think the FIA has always been some level of incompetent, but it's just gotten to the point where there needs to be serious thought put into getting rid of them entirely and forming a new organisation if they won't reform.
Click to expand...
Isn't the stewards and race director independant from the FIA though?
 
P
Masi did a brilliant job.

F1 hasn't seen coverage, social-media engagement and headlines like this in a long time.

The sport takes a back seat to the publicity and sponsorship side of things, has done for a long time, and he delivered more exposure for the sport with that 1 decision than anyone has.

No such thing as bad publicity.
 
Damage Inc
Enthilzha said:
I don't buy the 'any' does not equal 'all' argument. The clear intention of rule 48.12 is that, if safe, all lapped cars should pass the leader with the SC returning to the pits at the end of the following lap.

The stewards have argued that 48.13 says that when the 'Safety Car in this lap' message is out then the SC comes in at the end of that lap and along with 15.3 giving the Race Director Overriding authority over the use of the safety car, this supercedes 48.12. Obviously under 48.12, the race would have ended under SC with Lewis winning and under 48.13 there would have been that final lap with Max winning.

But this seems to me to be a way of the FIA saying that 'hey, here are the rules - but we will include a rule that allows us to change our rules at any moment we choose' which is surely not fair on any team or driver. The default in this situation would always have been to use 48.12 which describes the specific circumstances going on at the time. So why did they override that default decision in this case in particular?
Click to expand...

Legal documents have to be water tight and this area is not water tight, especially when another rules allows for superscedence.

Because they didn't want the race and championship won under the SC? Agree with that or not, it's the clearly the main reason for the decision making at the end.

What would be better IMO is to do what BTCC do and ADD laps after a safety car, then we get the racing without controversy!
 
Damage Inc
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...
The race director is allowed to use his discretion. There is no explicit rule that says ALL lapped cars MUST unlap themselves. It's a grey area that will require a rule rewrite. That's the legal world for you, much worse has been done regarding legal "technicality" in the criminal courts!!
 

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