Max Verstappen wins maiden championship title after a dramatic last lap overtake on Hamilton

Red Bull ace Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race at Yas Marina claiming his maiden Formula 1 Championship title.

Verstappen won the final race of the 2021 Formula 1 Season after a dramatic last lap overtake on his title rival Lewis Hamilton who had dominated over the race after overtaking Verstappen on race start.

Hamilton was leading the race with a considerable margin over Verstappen but a virtual safety car saw the Red Bull driver clear the time gap. However, a second controversial virtual safety car was effected and against all odds Verstappen landed just behind the leading Mercedes. With the title fight down to the last lap, Verstappen pulled off an overtake on Hamilton at Turn 5 leading all the way to the chequered flag.

Disappointed Hamilton finished second ahead of Carlos Sainz who got Ferrari a podium after an impressive performance in the Sunday evening race.

The fight was down to the wire from the race start as Hamilton who was starting from the second spot on the grid took the lead from Verstappen after a fast launch. Going through Turn 6, Verstappen would try to pull off an overtake on Hamilton from the inside forcing the Mercedes driver to run wide. Despite the efforts, Hamilton maintained the lead as the Race Stewards saw no need to investigate Verstappen’s move.

As the race progressed, Verstappen could not keep up with Hamilton’s pace despite going in for the hard tyres on Lap 13. Heading back to the track, the Dutchman was held up behind Carlos Sainz stretching the time margin from Hamilton to eight seconds. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez who was leading the race at the time assisted the sister Red Bull recover the time by holding up Hamilton. Perez cost Hamilton six seconds by slowing down in the final sector.

Once again, Hamilton took the lead after a slipstream on Perez and again extended the gap over Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen was not so lucky on his final race in F1 after spinning off Turn 6 after a brake problem which forced his retirement. Williams’ George Russell also retired from his final race with the team after losing his drive.

Antonio Giovinazzi’s retirement at Turn 9 saw both Red Bulls pit for hard compounds as the virtual safety car was out. Hamilton, on the other hand opted to stay out stretching the lead over Verstappen to 20 seconds. Running on brand new slicks, Verstappen’s Red Bull was faster and Hamilton was not gaining more time despite a strong lead.

All fortunes changed for Red Bull after forcing Verstappen to pit for soft tyres during the virtual safety car which was brought out after Nicholas Latifi crashed on Turn 14. Being the last lap, Formula 1 race director Michael Masi cleared the four lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the safety car despite initially stating that it was not allowed. Verstappen was now trailing just behind Hamilton in the final lap and the battle to the chequered flag was on.

Capitalising on the situation and on fresh soft tyres, Verstappen took the lead on Turn 5 all the way to the finish becoming the first Dutch World Champion. Despite a disappointing second place for Hamilton, Mercedes won its 8th constructors championship in a row.

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Nat.	Car	Time/Retired	PTS	Laps
1	33	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing	1:30:17.345	26	58
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	+2.256s	18	58
3	55	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	+5.173s	15	58
4	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JAP	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	+5.692s	12	58
5	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	+6.531s	10	58
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	+7.463s	8	58
7	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	+59.200s	6	58
8	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Alpine F1 Team	+61.708s	4	58
9	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Alpine F1 Team	+64.026s	2	58
10	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	+66.057s	1	58
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team	+67.527s	0	58
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	+1 lap	0	57
13	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team	+1 lap	0	57
14	47	Mick Schumacher	GER	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	+1 lap	0	57
15	11	Sergio Perez	MEX	Red Bull Racing	DNF	0	55
NC	6	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	DNF	0	50
NC	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	DNF	0	33
NC	63	George Russell	GBR	Williams Racing	DNF	0	26
NC	7	Kimi Räikkönen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	DNF	0	25