How Max Verstappen won a controversial Abu Dhabi GP for his first F1 title

The 2021 Formula One season ended in stunning fashion after Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen edged out Mercedes-Benz's Lewis Hamilton in the final lap of the final race of the year to hand the Dutchman his first world championship–and deny Hamilton of his record-breaking eighth.

In a year full of controversial decisions by race stewards and dirty driving by the two title contenders, the championship was fittingly decided in a similar fashion in Abu Dhabi for one of the closest finishes in F1 history.

With the two drivers level on points going into the final race, the title would go to whoever finished ahead. Verstappen started on pole position with Hamilton just behind him. But the Brit had a better start and took the lead before the very first turn.

Hamilton then led the pack for most of the race and there were but a few instances when his lead was under threat. The first came in turn six of the first lap–the first of the race's controversies–when Verstappen came wheel to wheel with Hamilton and forced the latter off the track. The Mercedes driver, not one to back down, cut the corner and retook the lead.

Red Bull were furious. "He has to give that [lead] back!" Verstappen screamed on the radio, insinuating that Hamilton took an unfair lead by cutting the corner off the track. The race stewards waved it off, saying that Hamilton did not gain an unfair advantage.

A dozen laps later, Hamilton's lead extended by more than 4 seconds, Verstappen told his team that his rear tyres were not responding well. He was on the soft tyres, while Hamilton was using the longer-lasting medium tyres.

So on lap 13, Verstappen pitted, changing to hard tyres and came out in sixth place. Hamilton pitted in lap 15, also switching to hard tyres, and managed to maintain the 4 sec lead over Verstappen when he emerged from the pit lane.

Hamilton extended his lead further to 8 seconds, combining excellent driving with an arguably superior car, until Verstappen's teammate Sergio 'Checo' Perez decided to do his colleague a favour.

Perez was ahead of Hamilton, as he was yet to pit. Hamilton gained on him by lap 20, having the fresher tyres, but Perez frustrated the Mercedes driver by defending the position and slowing him down, hence allowing Verstappen to catch up.

"Checo is a legend!" said Verstappen on the radio. Hamilton eventually passed Perez, and the Red Bull driver allowed Verstappen to go through as well, with Hamilton's lead now just 1.2 seconds.

Despite this, it was smooth sailing for Hamilton again, as he put distance between him and his title rival. It would have been an easy victory for him had the race remained uninterrupted, but an F1 race is incomplete without the drama.

On lap 37, Antonio Giovinazzi’s car stopped dead on the track, triggering race officials to enforce a virtual safety car until the Italian’s car was taken off. Verstappen seized the opportunity and went into the pits to get fresh tyres. Mercedes decided against doing the same, leaving Hamilton out with tyres that were 22 laps older than Verstappen’s with another 21 laps to go.

Despite this, the Brit maintained his lead and over the next 15 laps, he stayed ahead in spite of having the older tyres. But on lap 53, everything changed. Williams driver Nicholas Latifi slammed into the barriers and a safety car was deployed to clear the wreckage.

Verstappen, once again, stormed into the pits and changed to the faster soft tyres, while Mercedes and Hamilton continued to stay out in a desperate attempt to hold on to the lead. 

While a usual pit stop costs a driver about 23 seconds, when pitting during a safety car deployment, the time loss is cut down to about 13 seconds.

Then came the biggest controversy of the season.

Two laps before the end of the race, with the safety car still on the track, there were five lapped cars between Verstappen and Hamilton–that is, cars that are actually a lap behind the race leaders. 

According to F1 rules, all lapped cars must pass the safety car and “un-lap” themselves. But race director Michael Masi told the teams that lapped cars would not be allowed to overtake.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner asked Masi over the radio: “Michael, why aren’t we getting these cars out of the way? We only need one racing lap.”

Masi suddenly changed his mind and allowed only the five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the safety car in the penultimate lap and the safety car was immediately called in.

FIA rule 39.12 states: “If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘Lapped cars may now overtake’ has been sent to all teams ... any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car. … Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.”

Mercedes would later protest that not all lapped cars were allowed to pass but only the ones between the two race leaders. There were more lapped cars behind Verstappen, but the safety car was returned to the pits before they could overtake. Had those cars also been allowed to “un-lap” themselves, it would have taken longer and the safety car would not have returned to the pits in time for one final lap of the race to take place.

As Verstappen had the fresher and soft tyres, the final lap gave Verstappen the upper hand. Red Bull were ecstatic, Mercedes were furious. 

In the final dramatic lap, Verstappen overtook Hamilton and won the race, thus winning the championship.

“Michael! Michael! You have to go back a lap!” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was heard telling Masi.

To which Masi responded: “Toto.. this is a motor race.”

Mercedes would later file a protest over the result but the FIA rejected it, saying that Masi made the decision to “remove lapped cars that would interfere with racing between the leaders”.

It is clear that the FIA wanted a proper racing finish to end the season, rather than a tame one under the yellow flag. But whether the officials took the right decision to allow only five lapped cars to overtake will be debated for years to come. 

At a time when F1 racing has gained popularity and viewership thanks to three seasons of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, which documents and dramatises key moments of the F1 season, this race has only added to the drama, despite the sport being dominated by two constructors with far superior cars.

As things stand, Max Verstappen is the 2021 world champion, the first Dutchman to do it.