Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2021

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race result

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Pos#DriverCarLapsTime/gapDifferenceReason
133Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda581hr 30m 17.345s
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes582.2562.256
355Carlos Sainz JnrFerrari585.1732.917
422Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda585.6920.519
510Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda586.5310.839
677Valtteri BottasMercedes587.4630.932
74Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes5859.20051.737
814Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault5861.7082.508
931Esteban OconAlpine-Renault5864.0262.318
1016Charles LeclercFerrari5866.0572.031
115Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes5867.5271.470
123Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes571 lap1 lap
1318Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes571 lap4.401
1447Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari571 lap0.620
1511Sergio PerezRed Bull-Honda553 laps2 laps
Not classified
6Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes508 laps5 lapsAccident
99Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari3325 laps17 lapsTechnical
63George RussellWilliams-Mercedes2632 laps7 lapsGearbox
7Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari2533 laps1 lapTechnical

Fastest lap: Max Verstappen

The FIA notes “the classification is subject to an appeal lodged with the ICA [International Court of Appeal]”. Mercedes has given notice of its intention to appeal after a post-race protest it lodged was rejected.

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2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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61 comments on “2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race result”

  1. You got that wrong, Masi is first, Horner second.

    1. You are wrong man. Glock is first and Latifi second. 😎

  2. Well that was exciting but didn’t really seem right either. Either no lapped cars passed or all lapped cars passed. They just allowed the 5 between Lewis and Max to go through and then immediately bring the SC in. Never ever seen that before in F1 and it doesn’t feel right to me

    1. No, whats the point of having a Race Director, who is employed to ensure the rulles are followed, if he is going to ignore them himself. He should do the right thing and stand down. A complete farsical end to a great season.

  3. BLS (@brightlampshade)
    12th December 2021, 14:47

    The longer after the race this gets the more I feel for Max. All that hard work, all those excellent drives, your first world champion… and its utterly tainted.

    1. So if Hamilton had won after deliberately running him off the track at silverstone, and bottas doing the same at hungary, that wouldn’t have been tainted?

      The hypocrite has lost a championship he never deserved to win, deal with it

      1. Ham stayed on the inside, and Max didn’t give any room. What don’t you get about this? How can even compare this with Max driving standards?

      2. BLS (@brightlampshade)
        12th December 2021, 14:55

        It’s not really down to people like me to deal with it, to be honest I think Max has been the better driver this year and deserves the championship, and yet it took just one deliberate action by race control to taint his Championship forever. That’s why I feel for Max.

        If it feels tainted to me how will it feel to neutrals and more Lewis leaning fans.

      3. Blaize Falconberger (@)
        12th December 2021, 15:07

        max fans get the champoinsip and thye’re bleating on…

      4. There is a God. He said let the talented win today not those who always feel entitled or get it gifted.

        1. So why did Vestappen win?

    2. Tainted? Depends on who you support @brightlampshade.

      For me, Copse and using 6 engines gives more taint…

    3. You’re right. It all hasn’t played out the way it should have. With those 2 drivers in a class of their own, those stunning cars, and the back and forth in the points standings.

      But when I look at the season as a whole, I’m relieved Max has got it: most wins, most poles, most podiums, most laps in the lead, and arguably less fortune.

      Had Lewis won his 8th title today, it would have been the least deserved one of them and unworthy of being the one that broke Michael’s record.

      1. Don’t think it’s arguable, go check, you should find at least a 40 points swing towards hamilton, minus 15, that’s still 25.

  4. And everyone will cry about dodgy decisions, as if hamilton didn’t get dodgy decisions at silverstone.

    Keep on crying

    1. Are you still crying about Silverstone even after your man won ;)

      1. Blaize Falconberger (@)
        12th December 2021, 15:28

        yes, he is! (facepalm)

      2. We’ll never forget silverstone obviously, so whenever someone brings up a tained championship because of this or spa etc., we have a counterpoint that had a bigger effect than these, not to mention baku and hungary.

  5. As alonso would say, karma for lap one.

    1. Karma took so very long, but it was worth it

      I am disappointed at Valtteri Bottas, though. He has finished his wretched merc career without sticking it up to them

  6. A hollow WDC.

    1. Only for Mercedes

    2. Massi makes up rules
      12th December 2021, 14:56

      Will forever have an asterisk against it. What nonsense with made up implementation of a rule with 1 lap to go. Expect a complaint logged by Mercedes.

    3. A worthy WDC except eleven hollow ones (last 12 except 2016)

      1. That would include 2009, won by Jenson, somewhat lucky but not unworthy. Change it to 2008

    4. Anyone looking back on the bare stats in years to come just wont get it.

      History can be like that.

      Money talks.

    5. There are always crazy events and pieces of luck that outcome WDC. It just happened that this one happened on the last lap of the last race.

  7. That’s racing. Perfect result!

  8. Thrilling season, but not sure I want every season to be this way on the backs of extremely inconsistent race direction and generated drama for Netflix.

    Both drivers are a class above and deserved to win this year, regardless of how tribal the keyboard warriors want to be about it.

  9. Disgraceful decision by the stewards.

    Hamilton had the clear lead up to the crash, the decision by the stewards should not have changed that.
    Any decision by the stewards should have looked at the race up to that point. Verstappen did not deserve
    the win.

    Latifi for williams crashes and triggers a sequence of events which leads to this abomanation of a result.

    The stewards either keeps the back markers on the track for the last lap, or declare the race over after
    they all unlap.

    Horner calls on the racing gods, with 8 laps to go, and the latest owners to this party , williams, duely obliges.

    1. Lewis had the lead due to a wrong decision on the overtake, though, so…

      1. Hamilton had Verstappen off the line and was clearly ahead. Verstappen then did what he does, late breaking nto the corner to nearly drive into Hamilton. Hamilton didn’t have a choise but to drive off and rejoin at a safe place to avoid collision with Max, and the rest of the cars coming around that corner at speed. Hamilon then slowed down so as not to acrew an unfair advantage, before resuming his efforts.

        What were you expecting Hamilton to do, do Donuts off the track until the field had passed before rejoining the track?
        He wasn’t in second taking first place by skipping the corner. He was in first and then forced off by max.

        1. That was just a classic overtake. Max was ahead by the apex, so he owned the corner.

          1. It wasn’t an overtake, it was a desperate lunge from far too far back (which he’s becoming known for). He didn’t have the apex, he missed it by a mile.

  10. Biggest joke going verstappen didn’t win fair and square massi should be sacked F1 is now tainted and those idiot commentators on sky

  11. Farcical.

    Charlie’s (RIP) name was barely mentioned in commentary. He commanded with authority.

    1. Exactly. Masi seems to have no backbone. There shouldn’t be discussions, there should be decisions made promptly and definitively and teams told what to do, not these mid race back and forths with team bosses.

      1. This always happens, just this year it’s being broadcast.

        1. The teams? That is new, yes.

          Commentators never mentioned Charlie’s name either. This season? I’m fed up of hearing about Michael Masi.

  12. Completely contrived by Liberty. We can’t follow the rules and have the race end under a safety car, so lets make things up so that we get one lap of racing. Congrats to Max but for those of us who know the rules and expect them to be followed, this does not look good for F1, Masi and Liberty.

  13. We have to consider the alternatives though:
    A. (Unnecessary) red flag, to favour Mercedes who made the strategic call not to pit under VSC or SC conditions.
    B. Not let backmarkers through, to favour Mercedes who made the strategic call not to pit under VSC or SC conditions.
    C. End race under SC, to favour Mercedes who made the strategic call not to pit under VSC or SC conditions.

    They went with D, the “natural” outcome to let the backmarkers through as they always have done in dry conditions, which happens to favour RBR as they made the strategic call to pit under VSC and SC.

    1. Letting the back markers through means letting all of them through, not just those between Max and Lewis. If the goal was to end the race under green flag conditions, they should have changed the rules to that effect as was done in other series.

      1. I am not saying you are wrong, I don’t know what the race director can or can’t decide. For the championship though that would not have made a difference.

        1. It would have made a difference. To let all of the back markers through and endure everyone was in the correct place would have taken more than a lap, thus the race would have ended behind the safety car.

          1. To add to this, it’s also in the rules that all lapped cars are required to overtake (obviously didn’t happen) and that the safety car will then return to the pits on the following lap (this didn’t happen either)

            Once lap 57 started, the race would have to end under SC as the earliest the SC could return to pits would be the end of lap 58

    2. Except, they didn’t let all the back markers through. If that’s not contrived, I don’t know what is.

  14. The comments sections are going to be super peaceful.

  15. Like this ? How does it end like this ? Seems so contrived. Poor script.

  16. Sad that it had to end this way. Truly tragic. Max has raced for this all year yet it was handed to him on a plate in the final lap after the FIA broke their own rules. You need to let all lapped cars overtake, not just those in the way of the leaders! Obviously that would have taken too long so sadly this feels completely fabricated. I don’t mind Max winning the championship, he’s probabbeen the stronger of the two throughout the year, but even Max fans must concede that wasn’t right. I love F1 and was so looking forward to 2022, but honestly I don’t consider this a sport anymore. There’s been right and wrong from both sides but you can’t change the rules and punishments just because it’s a close championship. That’s not sport. Congratulations to Max, but this is a dark day for F1 after last weekend and Brazil. They really need someone new to steady the ship.

  17. It’s a farce. Never seen anything like this. Lewis will sleep well becauae he is used to this sort of thing.

    1. Blaize Falconberger (@)
      12th December 2021, 15:27

      and is still 7 x world champion… :-)

  18. I’m extremely happy that Max won.

  19. This is probably go under the radar with the championship ending in that fashion, but Carlos Sainz has clinched 5th in the WDC and finished his maiden season in Ferrari in front of Leclerc.

    1. Yes, he’s been consistent but leclerc has been less lucky and took risks to try and get a win whenever the opportunity came up, don’t think it reflects well on the season that he ended up ahead of leclerc and norris.

  20. For this thrilling season to end in appeals and litigation is the most F1 result possible.

  21. This couldn’t have been any better …the Lewis brigade crying foul is so funny to see… I hate Lewis fans(the blind ones) not Lewis… He is an all time great amd I am sure he will win at least one more ..but max deserved this one

    1. No unfair lewis had 11 second lead b4 safety car came out, max pushing along side lewis while safety car was out over taking by a fraction he is a danger to him and others, should never have got half points at belguim grand prix either that was not a race behind the safety car. Congrats to him but all season he has been favoured.

      1. Again with those measly 5 points; if you take baku, silverstone and hungary you get like 45 points in favour of hamilton, that should stop all arguments.

  22. Very unfortunate that Kimi, Russell and Perez had to retire. Kimi deserves to finish his career by seeing the chequered flag, Russell deserves it for a good season and Perez deserved it for a great fight with Lewis (the best racing of this race).

    1. Sadly enough though, this is fitting for raikkonen’s career, he drove often unreliable cars, lost a title he’d have won if not for crazy unreliability (2005, although had the car been reliable it’d have been dominant) and had a technical problem in his last ferrari race too, it was a reminder of the old years.

  23. Before laffiries crash hamilton had 11 sec. lead with 4 back markers between him and vestappen and both on similar tyres. Had vestappen not put brand new softs on masi’s declaration may have been acceptable. What actually happend can only be tranlated as Masi did not want Hamilto to win.

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