Race Report
The 2021 season has finally reached its dramatic climax, and in 2021 fashion, it was anything but normal.
We can finally crown a champion, and Max Verstappen has earned his first title after an incredible season. Lewis Hamilton takes second in the race and in the championship, and while he is understandably disappointed, the seven-time champion showcased his amazing talent once again. Valtteri Bottas finished in 6th place for Mercedes in his final race with the team before his move to Alfa Romeo. Sergio Perez failed to finish the race for Red Bull following an issue with his engine.
Carlos Sainz finished in third place for Ferrari after starting the race in fifth. Not only that, but Ferrari finally secured third place in the Constructor’s championship. After a tough couple of years for the Italian team, they’ll be extremely happy with that result. Charles Leclerc finished in tenth place after a risky pit stop during an early virtual safety car didn’t pay off as expected.
What will have passed many people by following the crazy result of the race was the 4th and 5th places of Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. The Italian team did an excellent job throughout the race, and while they were unable to secure fifth place in the Constructor’s championship, they have clearly shown that they are a force to be reckoned with. I for one am extremely excited to see what they do next!
McLaren’s Lando Norris appeared to get himself back on track (excuse the pun) this weekend, after qualifying in 3rd place and showcasing the talent we’ve come to expect from him. While he eventually finished the race in 7th place, he did enough to cling onto 6th place in the Driver’s Championship, an excellent result for the British driver.
It was an unfortunate weekend for Alfa Romeo, and for fans of the sport who were saying goodbye to their two drivers. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both failed to finish their final races in the sport. We wish them both the best in the future and will miss seeing them on track.
Race week review
The stakes had never been higher, Max Verstappen on the verge of becoming a world champion, possibly the first non Mercedes champion since Sebastian Vettel in 2013 and Lewis Hamilton on the verge of glory, gunning for his 8th world championship.
During the week, many celebrities and social media personalities showed their support for Verstappen and Hamilton. F1 shared their messages on Instagram, wishing both drivers the best of luck.
In FP1, Verstappen led Bottas and Hamilton, with the teams testing out the new adjustments to the circuit and getting used to it. Abu Dhabi had some changes to the track, getting a new turn 5 and turn 9, along with changes to sector 3, making a lap around the circuit 10 seconds quicker.
In FP2, Mercedes showed a lot of pace, the gap between Verstappen and Hamilton 6 hundredths of a second; while Ocon and Bottas completed the top 3 for that session. Kimi Raikkonen, in preparation for his final Formula 1 race spun in his Alfa Romeo.
The final practice session saw Hamilton come out on top again, with Verstappen not quite able to respond but finish ahead of Bottas in FP3. The Alpha Tauri showed good pace, placing 6th and 7th.
For the final qualifying of the season, no mistakes could be made by either championship contender if they wanted to have a good start for the race. There was a long straight into the first corner, meaning anything could happen in those few meters.
Some surprising exits from Q2 were from Gasly and Alonso, who had made in into the top 10 shootout for the majority of the season. A good session for McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in 3rd and 5th respectively meant that they would have a good view of all the action up front.
Perez was to start 4th and Bottas 6th, a little further behind their teammates for the final race but Mercedes had all but secured an 8th constructor’s title.
Max Verstappen missed out on pole position in Saudi Arabia with what looked like it was a cracking lap but fell short at the final corner when he clipped the wall. He made no mistake in Abu Dhabi where it mattered most and with a stellar lap, took pole position from his championship rival, Lewis Hamilton.
What looked like a dominant race win for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was snatched away after the safety car came out in the final few laps and Red Bull seized the opportunity to change for a fresh set of soft tyres. With one final lap of racing, Verstappen made the move and crossed the line to bring home his first world driver’s championship in the sport.
With controversy among decisions made in the closing stages of the race, Mercedes protested the race classification as well as car #33 under the safety car and both protests were rejected after an investigation post race, to which Red Bull and Max Verstappen could finally celebrate.
Mercedes put forward another intention to appeal but withdrew this appeal on Thursday morning, the day of the prize giving ceremony Max Verstappen would attend. Lewis Hamilton would be knighted on Wednesday, his work and efforts celebrated by the British Commonwealth.
Neither team boss Toto Wolff nor Hamilton attended the gala, with Wolff suggesting there was no guarantee that Lewis would return to the sport after the finale’s events.
The FIA have since put forward a statement on how it aims to change certain aspects of the sport to avoid a situation like Sunday’s again.
With all of the regulation changes scheduled for 2022, we can only hope for an even better season ahead.
2022 schedule:
Thank you for your support, and we’ll see you soon!
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