A Look Inside Abu Dhabi's Most Controversial Race.
Every F1 fan was waiting anxiously for this morning's race to see who would win the last and most important race in the season. Fans threw predictions around, but I don't think anyone expected the drama that followed.
Lap 1 started great for Lewis Hamilton as he got off well with a better reaction time of a 10th of a second and was able to take 1st position in the first turn.
Hamilton's pace was considerately better because he started pulling away and created a significant gap even though both Redbulls were chasing after him. After breaking earlier than Verstappen, Verstappen overtakes Hamilton but pushes him off into the chicane. Unfortunately for Verstappen, Hamilton cut through and gained a substantial advantage over Verstappen and Perez. Verstappen was unhappy with the turn of events and complained to Cristian Horner that Hamilton needed to give him the place back.
To Verstappen's dismay, the Stewarts deemed Hamiton's actions acceptable and said no investigation was necessary. It seemed to be a bit of Kharma due to Brazil's race when Verstappen ran Hamilton off the track and into the chicane to keep Hamilton from overtaking, although he denies the allegation.
Fast forward to lap 20. Perez showed exceptional teamwork when he held Hamiton back to give Verstappen a time advantage. He did everything possible to keep Hamiton back and close the 8-second gap for Verstappen. By the time Hamilton passed Perez, the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was a short 1.5-seconds. Perez also gave Verstappen some DRS so that Verstappen could gain better time down the straight.
Of course, Hamilton's pace was much better, and he was able to pull away from both Redbulls.
Lap 14 was the opening for Verstappen to change tires from his original soft tires to a hard. Mercedes also chose to box Hamilton the next lap due to the 27-second gap between the two competitors.
On lap 54, Nicolas Latifi crashed due to a lack of tire grip on the exit of turn 14. This is where the race gets very, very interesting.
Due to Latifi's crash location, a Safety Car was deployed on track giving Verstappen an advantage. During the Safety Car, Verstappen jumped on the opportunity to change tires - yet again- to softs.
The Stewarts gave the rule on lap 56 that no lapped cars were allowed to overtake until Christian Horner contacted Michael Masi, complaining that they wanted the lapped cars to overtake the Safety Car, which in turn would enable Verstappen with fresh soft tires, to overtake Hamilton. Surprisingly the Stewards gave Redbull precisely what they wanted, leaving Mercedes confused and enraged.
Toto Wolff, the co-owner and Manager of the Mercedes F1 team, radioed Michael, practically pleading with him to see that what the Stewards did was unacceptable and gave Verstappen an unfair advantage over Hamilton and Mercedes.
On the last lap of the race, Verstappen quickly overtook Hamilton and won the 2021 Formula One World Championship.
Now we get into public opinion.
Many Mercedes (even some Verstappen fans) made a considerable commotion, saying that Hamilton's 8th title was stripped from him, and Verstappen was given an unfair advantage.
Max Verstappen may have won by the race Stewart's book, but to many F1 fans, Verstappen's win was truly hollow.
