Hamilton & Verstappen 2021 Abu Dhabi GP transcript · RaceFans

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which took place one year ago today, was made infamous by the events of the final lap.

But the 57 laps which came before it were packed with tension, drama and controversy as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought head-to-head over the destiny of the world championship.

The outcome of the race and, with it, the drivers’ title, was swung by then-FIA F1 race director Michael Masi’s decision to break with convention – not to mention the rulebook – by organising a last-lap restart in which only a portion of the lapped cars were allowed to rejoin the lead lap. Crucially, the only ones moved out of the way were those which separated race leader Hamilton from championship rival Verstappen.

Until then, the race had been slipping away from Verstappen, though Red Bull did everything they could to keep him in the fight. He pitted early, forcing Hamilton to respond, while team mate Sergio Perez was left out to delay the Mercedes driver.

That slashed Verstappen’s deficit to his rival, which proved crucial when the race was interrupted twice in the second half. Verstappen took a fresh set of tyres during a VSC period, and again during the fateful Safety Car deployment at the end of the race. Each time Mercedes told Hamilton they couldn’t bring him in because doing so would drop him behind his rival, who would inevitably stay out, and trying to re-pass Verstappen on track even with a tyre advantage would be fraught with peril.

That plus a u-turn by the race director which caught both teams by surprise set up one of the most controversial conclusions to a championship fight. Here’s how every lap of it played out.

Hamilton and Verstappen: 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix team radio transcript

The pair shared the front row, Verstappen on pole, but Hamilton made a better start and was immediately through into the lead.

Verstappen had chosen to start on soft tyres to Hamilton’s mediums, however, and was within range as they approached turn six. The Red Bull driver dived for the inside, edging Hamilton wide at the exit, but staying within the track’s bounds himself.

Hamilton cut the chicane and rejoined well ahead of Verstappen. He backed off briefly, allowing the Red Bull driver to regain some ground, but did not hand the lead to his rival.

The race director, Masi, informed Red Bull he was happy Hamilton had restored the advantage he had gained by leaving the track, and they raced on.

Verstappen was unable to get within DRS range of Hamilton, who slowly drew away from him. It wasn’t long before Verstappen’s tyres began to fade and he started to drop back more quickly.

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Red Bull wasted no time bringing Verstappen in once his tyres had gone. Mercedes, unwilling to risk allowing him to jump ahead of Hamilton using his fresh rubber, reacted immediately.

Hamilton kept his lead over Verstappen but emerged behind the other Red Bull. Perez had also started the race on softs but ran eight laps longer than his team mate.

By lap 20, Hamilton was on Perez’s tail. The Red Bull driver defended as if he was the one fighting for the title rather than his team mate, rebuffing the Mercedes for almost two laps.

That allowed Verstappen to slash the deficit to his rival. Having been over eight seconds behind Hamilton at one point, after Perez pitted the gap was little more than a second.

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With Hamilton and Verstappen now both on hard tyres, the Mercedes started to draw away again.

As they approached half-distance both had to back off for a yellow flag at one point. Red Bull told Verstappen he had lost two-tenths more than Hamilton. At no stage did either team let the slightest possible infraction by their rival pass without comment, well aware the stewards would be listening.

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Hamilton began to build his lead quickly as the race moved into its second phase.

While Perez played a significant role on Verstappen’s behalf, Hamilton’s team mate was out of contention. Valtteri Bottas was struggling with his power unit, qualified sixth and never figured in the fight at the front.

Hamilton asked about his progress at one stage. This was Bottas’ final race as a Mercedes driver, and though he was about to be replaced at the team by George Russell, he was deeply invested in the team’s success and deeply unhappy over Hamilton’s eventual defeat.

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Antonio Giovinazzi’s final F1 race came to an end with a technical problem, triggering a VSC period.

Verstappen had an enormous gap behind him and was easily able to pit for fresh rubber. But Hamilton was only five seconds ahead of Verstappen, and unable to do the same without losing the lead.

Hamilton was concerned by the fact Verstappen had been able to fit fresh rubber, but Mercedes told him they hadn’t had a choice.

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Verstappen had now fallen over 16 seconds behind Hamilton (the gap was temporarily inflated by the VSC) and Red Bull had to tell him where his rival was as he set off after him. With fresher rubber he was able to take up to half a second per lap out of Hamilton, though he needed more.

Hamilton lost time with traffic. Mercedes reassured him, pointing out Verstappen would have to do the same.

Before the race began there were some concerns the new kerbs at the reconfigured Yas Marina would cause tyre problems. This had happened at the recent race in Qatar. Mercedes warned Hamilton to take extra care.

With 10 laps to go Verstappen was no longer catching Hamilton. The gap between them stabilised at 11 seconds, and Verstappen was about to hit the traffic Hamilton had already lapped.

Nicholas Latifi’s race ended on his 51st lap when he crashed at turn 14. Both drivers were warned about the incident, Hamilton initially given the wrong corner number.

The Safety Car was deployed. Once again, he wasn’t far enough ahead of Verstappen to be able to pit and come out ahead of the Red Bull, and once again Verstappen had ample room behind to take fresh rubber. He did, Red Bull fitting the softs. However it remained to be seen whether the race would restart in time for him to take advantage of them.

Knowing he would be vulnerable at the restart, Hamilton repeatedly urged his team to tell the Safety Car to speed up, reducing the amount of time left to finish the race. Had the number of laps run out before the Safety Car came in – as happened at Monza this year – he would have been champion.

As the recovery of Latifi’s car took longer than expected, the race director initially announced the lapped cars would not be allowed to rejoin the lead lap.

Both drivers’ race directors misunderstood this message at first, telling their drivers the opposite before correcting themselves. Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase were unimpressed.

On the penultimate lap, race director Masi changed his mind. Crucially, he only allowed the five lapped cars separating Hamilton from Verstappen to rejoin the lead lap. This meant Verstappen would have a clear shot at the lead. Meanwhile the lapped Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll behind the Red Bull were left a lap down, separating Verstappen from his closest threat behind, third-placed Carlos Sainz Jnr, who later said the “strange” decision almost cost him a podium finish.

The race restarted and Verstappen immediately passed Hamilton. His tyres were two stages softer and 39 laps fresher.

The Red Bull pit wall exploded in joy at the end of a tense championship fight involving several clashes between the two drivers.

In contrast Mercedes were disconsolate. Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington reminded him he was supposed to bring his car to a stop on the grid; instead he drive into the pits, stopped in parc ferme and sat in silence for two minutes as he composed himself.

After a brief word at the podium ceremony, he took part in no further media activities before leaving the circuit and did not make any public statement again for more than a month.

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