In Pictures: Abu Dhabi 2021
Extraordinary, quite simply extraordinary. Epic finish to an epic season. Max Verstappen wins the World Drivers’ Championship and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 their record eighth Constructors’ Championship.
Now on to the weekend:
Just as we started 21 races ago, F1 arrived at Abu Dhabi to a revised Yas Marina Circuit with both Championship contenders’ level on points.
The weekend started with much talk about how the championship could end up, but regardless, FP1 was dominated by Max Verstappen, setting the fastest lap ahead of Bottas and Hamilton. FP2 was Hamilton’s, as the Britton sets the fastest lap of the day, a 1:23.691. Ahead of Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas. The only bad note was Kimi Raikkonen crashing during the final seconds.
On Saturday’s Free Practice 3, the Mercedes set the pace, with Hamilton setting the fastest lap, his Mercedes looking better balanced than all other cars. Verstappen finished second, two-tenths down.
And then came Qualifying. During Q1, a bollard was knocked out of place, bringing out a red flag. During Q2, Red Bull opted to start the Grand Prix on softs, while both Mercedes are going on mediums. At the end, it was Max Verstappen, with a blistering lap getting Pole Position. Hamilton finished second, with Norris, Perez, Sainz, Bottas, and Leclerc behind them.
Quotes about Max Verstappen’s Pole Position Lap:
“This guy just delivered something magical” - Nico Rosberg
"Unbelievable. Honestly unbelievable. He's outstanding" - Fernando Alonso
On Sunday, the first news was about Nikita Mazepin testing positive for Covid-19 so there were only 19 drivers on the grid.
Some people were sad, being Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi’s last F1 race, others changing teams next year like George Russell and Valtteri Bottas. Some were nervous and expectant to what was about to unfold.
The race started and it was Lewis Hamilton taking the lead from the get-go, even though Verstappen was on the softs and Hamilton on the mediums.
Then the duo reached turn 6, Hamilton opened the door and Verstappen went for it and for a moment was ahead of the Mercedes, Hamilton avoided contact and went out through the runoff area, coming into the track way ahead. Verstappen called for Hamilton to give the place back, but the Stewards decided no investigation was necessary as Hamilton backed up a bit, giving away any advantage gained.
Hamilton was pulling away, and by lap 14, Verstappen was called into the pits for a new set of hard tires. He came out in fifth, behind Lando Norris’ McLaren. Next lap, Hamilton came in for his first pit-stop, a new set of hards were fitted and came out in second, behind Perez in the other Red Bull.
By lap 20, Hamilton had caught up to Perez and tried desperately to overtake him, but the Mexican made his RB16B as wide as the track. And what fantastic racing from both, but the Mercedes’ power was too much for the Red Bull and Hamilton passed Perez at turn 6 on lap 21. The Mexican let Verstappen by, and the chase continues. Hamilton is pulling away and gaining bit by bit over Verstappen in second.
On lap 26, Kimi Raikkonen is stopped at turn 6, he had a brake issue and went off, but was able to reverse and crawled back to the pits and retires from his last race in Formula One. Two laps later, it was Russell’s turn to retire.
On lap 35, Giovinazzi pulls his Alfa Romeo to the side at the exit of turn 9, ending his race. A VSC is deployed. Next lap Verstappen pits for a new set of hard tires, coming out in second but behind a couple of backmarkers. Racing was resumed on lap 38, and Hamilton is 16.9 seconds ahead of Verstappen, but catching him. The gap is coming down as Hamilton’s tires degrade.
Then on lap 53, Nicholas Latifi crashes his Williams at turn 14. The Safety Car is deployed, and Red Bull call his drivers in for a pitstop. A new set of shiny soft tires for Verstappen and Perez. Mercedes gambles not to pit and hold track position. Verstappen comes out in second but behind five backmarkers. Red Bull retires Perez’s car.
On the penultimate lap, Race Control orders the five cars lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the Safety Car, which was in that same lap.
Racing is resumed for one final lap. Hamilton defending his lead but with much older tires gets overtaken by the Dutchman going into turn 5, taking the lead of the Grand Prix, Hamilton tried desperately to retake position but was unable to and it is Max Verstappen who wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and becomes the 2021 Champion of the World! Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the podium, and Mercedes clinched their record eighth Constructors’ Championship title. It is the first title for Honda since Ayrton Senna won the 1991 crown and comes in the engine manufacturers' final race with the team.
But the drama wasn’t over as Mercedes lodged two protests, one for Verstappen overtaking Hamilton behind the Safety Car, and another for Race Control not following lapped cars under Safety Car protocol. After many hours of discussions, both complaints were dismissed by the FIA.
Mercedes lodged notice of intention to appeal the Stewarts’ decision. At the time of this note, there were no additional news…
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM:
““It is unbelievable. The whole race I kept fighting and then that opportunity in the last lap. It is incredible. I am still having a cramp (in his leg), I had a massive cramp in my calf since starting the last lap, but you can’t back off. It is insane. These guys (fans in the stands), my team and, of course, at home as well deserve it. I love them so much and I really, really enjoyed working with them since 2016 but this year has been incredible. Finally a bit of luck for me. I also want to say a big thank you to Checo (Sergio Pérez), he was driving his heart out as well. It was great teamwork and he is an amazing teammate. To my team, I think they know I love them, and I hope we can do this for 10, 15 years together. I want to stay with them for the rest of my life. I hope they let me. I am so happy. Christian (Horner) and Helmut (Marko) trusted me to be in the team. Our goal was to win this championship and now we have done that.””
““Firstly, big congratulations to Max and to his team. I think we did an amazing job this year. My team, everyone back at the factory, all the men and women we have, and here, have worked so hard this whole year. It has been the most difficult of seasons. I’m so proud of them, so grateful to be part of the journey with them. We gave it everything. This last part of the season we gave it absolutely everything and we never gave up and that’s the most important thing.””
““What a way to end my first year with Scuderia Ferrari! We knew it was going to be a tough race for the tires but we used our experience of the entire year to extend the life of my Softs in the first stint and then to look after my Hards until the end of the race. To sign off my first season with the Scuderia with a podium, a third place in the Constructors’ Championship and a fifth in the Drivers’ is a great way to head into the winter break. I want to thank all the tifosi and the entire team, including Charles, the management and every single member of the factory and race team for the welcome I’ve had this year. I felt at home at Ferrari from the very first day and that, along with their incredible effort all year long, has been key to improving race by race and finishing this first season strongly. Finally I want to congratulate both Max and Lewis for their great season. I’m happy for Max, so a special congratulation for the Championship title. I’m already looking forward to next season! Forza Ferrari!””
And from the Iceman:
““It’s been nice to see so many people showing their appreciation today, even if the race didn’t go as we hoped. We had an issue after the pit-stop, a technical problem that meant we finished earlier today. That’s racing, sometimes things fail, but today’s result doesn’t influence how I feel about my career. I’m happy to move on to a normal life, I am looking forward to it. Of course, I will miss a lot of the great people I met over the years; 20 years have gone quickly, I made lots of memories, some good, some bad, and these are going to stay with me forever.””
