Max Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP and 2021 F1 Drivers’ Championship in last-lap drama with Lewis Hamilton

Marc Mayo12 December 2021

Lewis Hamilton was denied a record eighth Formula One Drivers’ Championship after a scintillating, and controversial, fight with the victorious Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.

The climax of the most enthralling season of recent F1 history went exactly as expected - with thrills and spills.

In the end, after 22 races in seven-and-a-half months over four continents, it came down to whether a crashed Williams would be cleared in time to allow Verstappen a last-ditch shot at overtaking a car sat just metres in front of him. And it came.

Hamilton got the jump at lights-out from second place on the grid, despite being on a slower but more durable tyre, and was comfortably ahead through the first turn.

Anyone who had watched even a lap of F1 this season knew that was never going to be that, however. With a slipstream down the long Yas Marina back straight, Verstappen pushed down the inside on a trademark aggressive overtake that momentarily put him in the lead.

But, with contact seeming inevitable, Hamilton bailed and cut the chicane to keep the lead and stewards deemed no investigation was necessary as Red Bull fumed at race director Michael Masi over the radio. Masi and the stewards were content that the Brit had been forced off the track and backed off to reduce any advantage he had gained, while letting him keep the lead.

Hamilton stormed into a commanding lead before Red Bull played their first trick up their sleeve, that of Sergio Perez. The second Red Bull driver stayed out during the pit stops and backed Hamilton up with a sterling defensive drive that put Verstappen back within 1.5 seconds of the lead when the Mercedes finally re-took first place.

The advantage was stretched out as Kimi Raikkonen’s final race in F1 ended with a brake issue. George Russell also retired from his Williams curtain call after a power problem.

Red Bull were running out of options and the prospect of a two-stop began to drift as Hamilton put five seconds between himself and Verstappen. Such was his pace advantage, it felt like even the first-lap move ending differently may have merely would have delayed the Merc’s run to victory.

A virtual safety car was one route back into the race and occurred after Antonio Giovinazzi stopped out on track. Red Bull were able to pull Verstappen in for a quicker stop than under normal race conditions, while Hamilton stayed out to keep track position.

With 20 laps to go at the restart, the Dutchman had 17 seconds to close down on fresher tyres.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Pool via REUTERS
Getty Images

But the advantage simply did not disappear as quickly as he needed and Red Bull were left asking for a miracle to snatch the championship. Their prayers were answered when Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams, bringing a safety car out on lap 53 of 58.

Verstappen dived in for a set of Soft tyres, leaving Hamilton vulnerable on old Hards in case the wreckage was cleared for a final-lap shootout.

Lapped cars were told not to overtake the pack, much to the chagrin of Red Bull, before a sudden change of heart allowed specifically the cars between the rivals to get out of the way.

Upon the restart, with the pair alongside each other, Verstappen made short work of Hamilton and took the lead on the last lap to win the most fascinating and heart-stopping of World Championships.

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