Formula One in 2021 has shown what the ideal recipe for the spectacle of sport should look like. Everything in the story is beautiful - the developments on the track, the tactical decisions, the radio conversations with the drivers and the race director. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be hotly debated for more than a day, and remembered for more than a year. It therefore makes sense to detail what happened in the final few laps.
End of lap 52 (6 full laps to go)
Hamilton and Verstappen crossed the finish line in 1st and 2nd position - with a difference of around 12 seconds between the two title contenders. While the Red Bull car had more recent tyres (Max has made two pit stops against one in Lewis), the chances of the Dutchman for the title look low. Amongst other things, Verstappen was hampered by the fact that he was forced to overtake the laps. At the start of lap 53 there were three cars a lap behind between the title contenders.
Lap 53
Nicolas Latifi flies into the breakaway in Turn 14 (making his 51st lap). The Canadian had gone off-track before this in a battle with Mick Schumacher for 16th position and appeared to have lost control of the car on muddy tyres. Less than half a minute after the crash, the stewards release the safety car onto the track.
"Holy crap," Hamilton reacts to the information from the engineer.
Lap 54
There are mechanics standing by in the Mercedes boxes with Medium tyres - but they leave after Hamilton drives past the entrance to the pit lane and begins a new lap. Verstappen, on the other hand, receives the command to turn into the pits, honours it and receives a fresh set of soft tyres. The director of broadcasting includes a radio exchange Hamilton with Mercedes - it begins with a 5-second squeak, overlapping obscene profanity. The driver can be heard saying "I can go into the pits" and the engineer's reply "The answer is no".
Verstappen returned to the track without losing positions. Red Bull car was soon on the tail of the Mercedes leader, whose tyres by this point worked out about 40 laps. Hamilton is brought back into the broadcast: "Man, I can't believe it..."
Lap 55
Hamilton continued to communicate with the engineers: "Why haven't we changed the tyres?" The engineer's reply, "We would have lost the position to Verstappen." Several drivers, following Verstappen's example, change tyres - but the drivers of the cars between the two leaders did not.
Lap 56
The stewards report that lapped cars will not be able to un-lap themselves. This essentially ensures that Hamilton wins the race and the championship.
Lap 57
Christian Horner and race director Michael Masi's talks come on the air.
Horner: "Why can't we get rid of the laps? It only takes one lap of action"
Masi: "My main objective now is to deal with the incident".
Shortly afterwards it is reported that the laps will still be allowed back into the same lap as the leaders - but only those between Hamilton and Verstappen. That means the Briton will remain defenceless against chaser attacks on fresh tyres. Five cars overtake Hamilton and the safety car - and at the same moment there is confirmation that the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the lap.
Shortly before the end of the lap, a Mercedes representative's rejoinder appears in the broadcast, addressed to the race director: "Michael, this isn't right".
Lap 58
The race resumes. Verstappen overtakes Hamilton on the inside radius at the entrance to Turn 5, in Turn 9 fought off a counterattack of the British (who tried to outrun his opponent on the outside radius), wins the race - and becomes world champion.
The race behind the leaders
All other events on the day were mere decoration for the title duel. Perez was a long time contender for third place in the race - but in the final laps the team asked him to stop the car and finish the fight.
Lando Norris missed his chance to finish the season on the podium due to a punctured front wheel, and eventually third in the race was Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas this time was almost unnoticeable in the last race for the Mercedes. The Finn lost a couple of positions on the start, but still managed to get to fourth place.
However, on the restart, he could not oppose anything to the opponents of the AlphaTauri on fresh tyres. In the end Yuki Tsunoda achieved a career-best fourth place, Pierre Gasly finished fifth and Bottas was only sixth.
Norris finished eighth, ahead of the Alpine duo. Fernando Alonso, like Gasly, started on the hard tyres and changed them during VSC. However, the veteran's pace then proved to be less than strong and he lost several positions. The final point of the season Charles Leclerc earned.
The full Williams and Alfa Romeo teams didn't make it to the finish line. Kimi Raikkonen was the first to be eliminated. A problem with his brakes caused the Finn to crash off the track and he was forced to end his career early. Nikita Mazepin did not take part in the race, as he tested positive for coronavirus.
This championship can be considered one of the best. Not only because the leaders fought for victory until the very end Not only because everything was decided on the very last lap. But also because we saw a whole bunch of incredibly beautiful races. It will be difficult for Formula 1 to repeat something like that in the future.
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