Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview: Will Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen become champion?
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview: Will Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen become champion?
By Oli Dickson Jefford
In the longest season in Formula One history, just one race remains of 2021 with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen neck and neck at the top of the World Championship standings.
This weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will once again be held at the Yas Marina Circuit and take place at dusk, with it set to be night-time once the race has concluded.
It will be the second race in the space of a week after Sunday’s dramatic and controversial Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, and it is set to provide a thrilling finale to the season.
Profile: Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit has played host to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ever since the race was first brought onto the calendar in 2009.
And this is not the first time that the championship will be settled there, with the winner of the 2010, 2014 and 2016 titles also decided in the desert.
Drivers will be familiar with the circuit at this point, though there have been some modifications ahead of this year’s race.
A chicane at turns 5 and 6 has been removed and the original turns 11-14 will be replaced by one banked curve, while the radius of turns 17-20 are going to be increased.
The last two moves are designed to increase the pace of the circuit, meaning it could be a faster race than in the past.
Last year’s race was won by Verstappen and that will certainly give the Dutchman confidence heading into the biggest race of his career. But Mercedes have largely dominated in recent seasons.
They won six straight races from 2014 to 2019 with a win each for Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas - and four for Hamilton.
Title race reaches epic climax
For just the second time in F1 history the top two drivers are level on points heading into the final race of the season, with Hamilton and Verstappen both on 369.5 points.
It’s been a duel to rival those between the likes of Senna and Prost and Schumacher and Hill in the past, and it is the Dutchman who holds a narrow advantage heading into this weekend.
Verstappen’s nine wins is one better than Hamilton’s eight, meaning he will win the championship if neither man scores any points this weekend.
He will also be buoyed by his victory last year but Hamilton has won here several times and this should be a stronger track for Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion has also won the past three races in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, meaning momentum is with him. He is without doubt the favourite at this point.
Mercedes are also the favourites to seal the Constructors Championship, having rebuilt a solid lead over Red Bull in recent races.
Toto Wolff’s team sit on 587.5 points with Red Bull, led by team principal Christian Horner, on 559.5 points having slipped further behind in recent races.
It would have to take strong finishes from Verstappen and Sergio Perez and poor results from Hamilton and Bottas for Red Bull to end Mercedes’ eight-year reign on the title.
What else is there to watch out for?
Title race aside, there is a lot else to watch out for this weekend.
In the Constructors Championship, Ferrari will hope strong displays from Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will help them seal third position - a major improvement on finishing sixth in 2020.
McLaren sit on 269 points - 38.5 points behind Ferrari - and it would take a major collapse from their rivals to now match their third place finish from last season.
Leclerc will look to seal fifth position in the Drivers Championship ahead of Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who has struggled recently after previously sitting as high as third in the standings.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will also mark the last race of Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who picked up 21 career victories during a highly impressive career.
Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi will also likely be racing for the last time in F1, with the Italian moving to Formula E.
Valtteri Bottas calls time on his five-season spell at Mercedes before heading to Alfa Romeo, while George Russell races in a Williams for the final time before moving to Mercedes.
Photo credit: Getty Images