On the evening of December 13, Beijing time, the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi finale was held, and Red Bull Racing Verstappen took advantage of the tire advantage of changing soft tires during the safety car to surpass Mercedes Hamilton in the final lap to win the championship. With this victory, Verstappen was crowned F1 Drivers World Champion for the first time in his career.
At last week's Saudi Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Hamilton won the championship in the final stages against Red Bull driver Verstappen. It also led to Verstappen and Hamilton tied for the top spot with 369.5 points in the drivers' standings. So this Abu D'azhar is a showdown between two people competing for driver of the year.
The competition between the two entered a white-hot situation from the start of the train. On Turn 6, Verstappen forced Hamilton off the track, the two cars had a slight contact, Hamilton cut back to the track and remained at the top of the table, quickly extending the lead to more than a second. The tournament then announced that there was no need for an investigation into the accident.
On lap 7, Hamilton again brushed the fastest lap, extending his lead over Verstappen to more than 2 seconds. Hamilton's lap advantage with a neutral tire became more and more pronounced, and by lap 13, the gap between the two was close to 5 seconds. On lap 20, Perez kept Hamilton in the lead and Verstappen took the opportunity to close the gap dramatically.
On lap 26, Raikkonen's brakes failed and he rushed out of the track and hit the parapet, causing a brief yellow flag on the track. Raikkonen reluctantly opted out of the race after returning to the pit, and his F1 farewell battle ended in such a regrettable way.
Hamilton brushed the fastest lap again on lap 33, extending his lead over Verstappen to more than 5 seconds. On lap 36, Giovinats' car malfunctioned and stopped on the edge of the track, showing a virtual safety car at the race. After the virtual safety car was over, Hamilton had a 17-second lead over Verstappen.
On lap 53, a serious crash in Latifi triggered a safety car, and the race will show a yellow flag and immediately dispatch the safety car. Verstappen once again pitted into the station to replace with a soft tire. On the final lap, Verstappen will use the soft tyres to chase Hamilton's hard tyres, which he quickly completed at Turn 5.
Hamilton then tried to force a counter-overtake at Turn 9, but Verstappen stubbornly held his position, and finally Verstappen crossed the finish line first, won the championship of the race, and was crowned the overall champion of the year this season, Hamilton finished second and finished second of the year. (End)