2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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Round	22 of 2021
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The new layout for the Yas Marina Circuit
Race Details
Date	December 12, 2021
Race Number	1057
Official Name	Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021
Location	Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.281 km (3.281 mi)
Distance	58 laps, 306.298 km (190.325 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda
Time	1:22.109
Fastest Lap
Driver	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda
Time	1:26.103 on lap 39
Podium
First	Max Verstappen
Second	Lewis Hamilton
Third	Carlos Sainz
Lap Leaders

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021) was the 22nd and final race of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at the Yas Marina Circuit between December 10 and December 12 2021. This was the 2021 title decider, as both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were tied going into the race, at 369.5 points each respectively.

Background

Available Tyres
Hard	C3
Med	C4
Soft	C5

In June 2021, it was announced that the circuit would be undergoing layout changes in a bid to improve on-track action, having seen races with little or no action in the previous years. The following changes are to be done on the circuit:

• At the hairpin section (previously turn 7), the chicane before it will be removed – with the width of the track in this area will also being opened up to allow multiple racing lines and potentially more passing opportunities.
• At the end of the second back straight (previously turns 11, 12, 13, and 14), the tight and twisty complex of bends are being removed completely and replaced with a high speed and wide banked corner.
• Finally, at the hotel section (previously turns 17, 18, 19 and 20), the corners that run around here are being opened up so it becomes faster and more flowing.

Right before the start of the weekend's events, it was announced that the contract to host the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the season finale will be extended until 2030.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35M	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35M	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Aston Martin	AMR21	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43B	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C41	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT02	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing Honda	Red Bull	RB16B	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Alpine	A521	Renault	E-Tech 21 1.6L V6t	P
16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	SF21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Aston Martin	AMR21	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT02	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Alpine	A521	Renault	E-Tech 21 1.6L V6t	P
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	Red Bull	RB16B	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	F1 W12	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	SF21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43B	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	F1 W12	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C41	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
Test Driver for Practice 1 Only
89	Jack Aitken	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43B	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
Source:

Practice

FP1

Max Verstappen had the early edge over Lewis Hamilton on Formula One’s most dramatic race weekend in living memory, as he topped first practice for the season-ending, title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the heavily revised Yas Marina Circuit.

FP2

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the second practice session of the while his championship rival Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull. The session finished with Raikkonen crashing heavily at Turn 14.

FP3

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time ahead of Max Verstappen in the final hour of practice in Abu Dhabi – with the all-important qualifying session to come.

Practice Results

The full practice results for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:

No	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2		FP3
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos	Time	Pos
3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.676	16	1:24.959	11	1:24.733	9
4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.123	12	1:25.153	13	1:24.106	5
5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1:26.007	10	1:25.195	14	1:25.115	16
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1:27.487	18	1:25.687	18	1:25.322	18
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:26.189	13	1:25.440	16	1:25.037	13
9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari	1:28.305	20	1:26.336	20	1:26.332	20
10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:25.822	7	1:24.940	10	1:24.251	7
11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:25.363	4	1:24.400	5	1:24.047	4
14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	1:25.625	6	1:24.495	6	1:25.094	15
16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:25.846	8	1:24.557	8	1:24.758	10
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1:26.608	15	1:25.385	15	1:24.821	11
22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:25.378	5	1:24.532	7	1:24.223	6
31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1:26.025	11	1:24.034	2	1:24.834	12
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:25.009	1	1:24.332	4	1:23.488	2
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:25.355	3	1:23.691	1	1:23.274	1
47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	1:27.698	19	1:25.784	19	1:25.340	19
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Ferrari	1:25.886	9	1:24.844	9	1:24.595	8
63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	DNP		1:25.549	17	1:25.220	17
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:25.205	2	1:24.083	3	1:24.025	3
89	Jack Aitken	Williams-Mercedes	1:27.481	17	DNP
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:26.409	14	1:25.108	12	1:25.048	14
Source:

Qualifying

Q1

Hamilton set the fastest time of the session with Latifi, Russell, Raikkonen, Schumacher and Mazepin out of Q1.

Q2

After on-track traffic moments in the final seconds, Verstappen set the fastest time, but did so on soft tires as opposed to the Mercedes drivers on medium tires. Eliminated from the session were Alonso, Gasly, Stroll, Giovinazzi and Vettel.

Q3

Verstappen set the fastest time that was unbeatable until the end of the session, with Hamilton, whose initial run was compromised by a lock-up into Turn 5, could not improve enough on his last run. Crucially however, Hamilton would be starting on the more durable medium compound as opposed to his rival's softs. Norris qualified a surprise third ahead of Perez, with Bottas in sixth in his last Mercedes outing.

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda		3	1:23.322		1	1:22.800		1	1:22.109	1
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1	1:22.845		3	1:23.145		2	1:22.480	2
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes		8	1:23.553		7	1:23.256		3	1:22.931	3
4	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda		4	1:23.350		2	1:23.135		4	1:22.947	4
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari		9	1:23.624		4	1:23.174		5	1:22.992	5
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes		2	1:23.117		6	1:23.246		6	1:23.036	6
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari		6	1:23.467		5	1:23.202		7	1:23.122	7
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda		5	1:23.428		8	1:23.404		8	1:23.220	8
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault		10	1:23.764		9	1:23.420		9	1:23.389	9
10	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes		11	1:23.829		10	1:23.448		10	1:23.409	10
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault		12	1:23.846		11	1:23.460				11
12	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda		7	1:23.489		12	1:24.043				12
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes		13	1:24.061		13	1:24.066				13
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		14	1:24.118		14	1:24.251				14
15	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes		15	1:24.225		15	1:24.305				15
16	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes		16	1:24.338							16
17	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes		17	1:24.423							17
18	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		18	1:24.779							18
19	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari		19	1:24.906							19
20	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari		20	1:25.685							DNS
107% Time: 1:28.644
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid

The starting grid of the feature race of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is outined below:

Show Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	33. Verstappen
	44. Hamilton	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	4. Norris
	11. Pérez	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	55. Sainz
	77. Bottas	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	16. Leclerc
	22. Tsunoda	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	31. Ocon
	3. Ricciardo	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	14. Alonso
	10. Gasly	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	18. Stroll
	99. Giovinazzi	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	5. Vettel
	6. Latifi	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	63. Russell
	7. Räikkönen	______________
Row 10	______________	19
	20	47. Schumacher
	9. Mazepin	______________

Race

Report

Hours before the race, it was announced that Mazepin had tested positive for COVID-19, hence not taking part in the start. There was no replacement fielded for him.

The race started at 17:00 local time on Sunday, December 12. Hamilton took the lead from Verstappen at the start, Verstappen attempted to repass in turn six. Hamilton left the track, cut the corner and rejoined with his lead considerably extended. This caused an immediate protest to race director Michael Masi by Red Bull, and the team was told by radio that Hamilton had given back any advantage gained. The incident was referred to the stewards, which concluded that no further investigation was necessary. Hamilton then gradually extended his lead until the first round of pit stops.

Verstappen made his stop at the end of lap 13 with Hamilton following suit one lap later, both opting for a set to the hardest available tyres. Red Bull decided not to stop Pérez, in the hope that he could hold up Hamilton later. Hamilton caught up with Pérez on lap 20 and attempted to pass with the advantage of his much fresher tyres. Pérez defended hard and was overtaken by but then repassed Hamilton until finally losing his position one lap later. He had, however, managed to make Hamilton lose almost his entire lead over Verstappen. The latter was not able to attack, and Hamilton's gap to Verstappen gradually extended again.

On lap 26, Räikkönen collided with the barriers at turn six and subsequently retired due to brake issues, marking the end of his 349^th and final Formula One start.

On lap 35, Giovinazzi retired his car with gearbox issues alongside the track, which triggered a virtual safety car period and ended his racing carrer in Formula 1. Red Bull used this opportunity to bring Verstappen in for a fresh set of the hardest tyres without losing track position, while Hamilton stayed out. Normal racing resumed two laps later. Using the advantage of fresher tyres, Verstappen gradually reduced his deficit, but not at a rate which would have been sufficient to catch Hamilton before the end of the race.

On lap 53, a crash for Nicholas Latifi brought out the safety car. Hamilton again stayed out without pitting, while Verstappen pitted behind him for a fresh set of the softest available tyres. During the safety car period Pérez retired, due to engine problems. After Verstappen's pit stop, he retained second, but with five lapped cars between himself and Hamilton (in first).

Prior to the end of the safety car, seemingly conflicting messages were given by race control regarding whether lapped cars would be able to unlap themselves from behind Hamilton before the safety car was withdrawn. Drivers were initially told this would not be done at all, but this decision was partially reversed on lap 57, with only the five lapped cars sitting in-between Verstappen and Hamilton allowed to pass the safety car; the other three lapped cars were not given directions to overtake the safety car.

The safety car pulled in at the end of the penultimate lap, allowing for one lap of green flag racing before the finish. On the final lap Verstappen used his fresh soft tyres to pass Hamilton into turn five to take the lead of the race. He held off counter-attacks from Hamilton to win the race and his first World Drivers' Championship. Mercedes gained enough points to win their eighth consecutive Constructors' title, extending their own record.

Hamilton finished the race in second, and third place was awarded to Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who completed the podium and ended 5th in the championship.

Mercedes' post-race protests

Mercedes protested the result of the race on two counts: for Verstappen overtaking Hamilton under the safety car, and that they believed race director Michael Masi did not follow the correct procedure by only allowing the lapped cars between Verstappen and Hamilton to uplap themselves, before the restart at the end of lap 57, despite initially rejecting requests from Red Bull to do so.

Normally all lapped cars would be allowed to unlap themselves, with the BBC's Andrew Benson saying the rules state that if race control allows cars to unlap themselves behind the safety car, then according to the Formula One sporting regulations all lapped cars should be allowed to unlap themselves. Both protests were rejected by the stewards following three hours of deliberation after the race and Verstappen was officially confirmed as World Champion.

Mercedes have lodged their intention to appeal to the FIA's International Court of Appeal citing potential breaches of Article 15 of the International Sporting Code and Article 10 of the FIA's Judicial and Disciplinary Code, with the team given 72 hours after the race has concluded to decide whether they wish to take the matter further. Mercedes withdrew the appeal as the FIA announced a 'clarification exercise' on the final laps of the race.

Drivers' reactions

George Russell who will drive for Mercedes in 2022 called the race finishing decision of race director Michael Masi 'unacceptable'.

Max is an absolutely fantastic driver who has had an incredible season and I have nothing but huge respect for him, but what just happened is absolutely unacceptable. I cannot believe what we’ve just seen.

—George Russell via Twitter

Lando Norris said the decision to go racing again on the last lap was made 'for TV'.

Results

The full results for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	58	1:30:17.345	1	26FL
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	+2.256s	2	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	58	+5.173s	5	15
4	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda	58	+5.692s	8	12
5	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	58	+6.531s	12	10
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	58	+7.463s	6	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+59.200s	3	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	58	+61.708s	11	4
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	58	+64.026s	9	2
10	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+66.057s	7	1
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	58	+67.527s	15
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+1 lap	10
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	57	+1 lap	13
14	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	57	+1 lap	19
15†	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda	55	Engine	4
Ret	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	50	Collision	16
Ret	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	33	Gearbox	14
Ret	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	26	Transmission	17
Ret	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	25	Brakes	18
ILL	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari	0	COVID-19	20
Source:

• ^† Perez retired after completing more than 90% race distance; his race was classified.

Milestones

• 8^th consecutive World Constructors' Championship title for Mercedes.
• First World Drivers' Championship title for Max Verstappen.
  • Verstappen is first Dutch driver to win a Formula One World Championship.
  • Verstappen is the fourth youngest driver to attain a WDC title; at age 24 years, 2 months, 12 days.
  • 10^th race win this season for Verstappen and 20^th race win overall.
  • 60^th podium for Verstappen overall.
  • 3^rd hat-trick for Verstappen.
  • NEW F1 RECORD: Most podiums scored during a season; his 18^th was achieved at this race
    • Surpassing the previous record of 17 by both Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
• 100^th entry and start for Lance Stroll.
  • Stroll is the 75^th driver to reach this milestone.
• 350^th entry for Kimi Räikkönen.
• 75^th race win for Red Bull.

---

• Final race in F1 for:
  • Kimi Räikkönen; retired from racing.
  • Antonio Giovinazzi; will race in Formula E next year.
• Final race for the following drivers in their respective teams:
  • Valtteri Bottas in Mercedes.
  • George Russell in Williams.
• Final race for Honda as an engine supplier.

Standings

Drivers' World Championship Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Max Verstappen 395.5 — 2 Lewis Hamilton 387.5 — 3 Valtteri Bottas 226 — 4 Sergio Pérez 190 — 5 Carlos Sainz 164.5 ▲2 6 Lando Norris 160 — 7 Charles Leclerc 159 ▼2 8 Daniel Ricciardo 115 — 9 Pierre Gasly 110 — 10 Fernando Alonso 81 — 11 Esteban Ocon 74 — 12 Sebastian Vettel 43 — 13 Lance Stroll 34 — 14 Yuki Tsunoda 32 — 15 George Russell 16 — 16 Kimi Räikkönen 10 — 17 Nicholas Latifi 7 — 18 Antonio Giovinazzi 3 —

Constructors' World Championship Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Mercedes 613.5 — 2 Red Bull Racing-Honda 585.5 — 3 Ferrari 323.5 — 4 McLaren-Mercedes 275 — 5 Alpine-Renault 155 — 6 AlphaTauri-Honda 142 — 7 Aston Martin-Mercedes 77 — 8 Williams-Mercedes 23 — 9 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 13 —

Only point-scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

See also

• F2 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1
• F2 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 2
• F2 2021 Yas Marina Feature Race

References

Images and Videos:

References:

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