2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Background

The race was originally scheduled to take place on 5 December, but was rescheduled to 12 December after the postponement of the Australian Grand Prix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its original date was eventually taken by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix while the Australian race was cancelled and replaced by the Qatar Grand Prix. It thus became the 22nd and last race of the 2021 season.

Circuit modification

The Yas Marina Circuit underwent a layout change that shortened the track in order to increase top speeds and overtaking opportunities. The chicane after turn 4 was removed, and the turn 5 hairpin (turn 7 before redevelopment) was widened. The four corner sequence of turns which were turns 11–14 became one single banked turn 9. The radii of turns 12–15 (previously 17–20) were increased to allow cars to carry more speed. The changes to turn 15 allowed cars to be able to travel flat out through the corner.

Tyres

Sole tyre supplier Pirelli provided the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds—the softest selections available—for use in dry conditions.

Entrants

Jack Aitken participated for Williams in the first practice session in place of George Russell. Nikita Mazepin tested positive for COVID-19 after qualifying, forcing his withdrawal from the race; he was not replaced.

The Grand Prix marked the last Formula One race for 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who had announced his intention of retiring at the end of the 2021 season a few months earlier, ending his Formula One career after 19 seasons to move to NASCAR Cup Series. As of 2025, it is also the last race of Antonio Giovinazzi, who moved to Formula E, and Mazepin, whose contract was terminated following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cancellation of Uralkali's title sponsorship. It was also the final race for Russell and Valtteri Bottas at Williams and Mercedes-AMG, respectively, as they moved to Mercedes and Alfa Romeo Racing.

Bottas raced with a special helmet for the occasion, featuring photos of all the moments he spent at Mercedes, and he sported a special set of blue racing overalls. Alpine featured the words "El Plan" in both their cars referencing a popular Internet meme. This race also marked the last race for Honda as official engine supplier, as Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri raced with Red Bull Powertrains from 2022, until their return at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix with Aston Martin.

Championship battle before the race and title permutations

Title rivals Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG) both entered the round with 369.5 points, leaving the championship contenders level on points for the final round for the first time since 1974 and only the second time in the sport's history. This meant the driver who scored the most points would win the championship; if both drivers had scored an equal amount of points, Verstappen would have won the championship owing to having more race wins (nine to Hamilton's eight prior to the race). The Drivers' Championship was decided in the final round for the 30th time and the first time since 2016.

In the Constructors' Championship, with 44 points on the table for every team, Mercedes led with 587.5 points, 28 ahead of Red Bull on 559.5; this was the first time since 2008 that the final round of the season decided the Constructors' Championship. In the midfield, Scuderia Ferrari led McLaren in the battle for third place by a margin of 38.5 points.

Acrimonious on-track battles throughout the season led to concerns that one of the drivers might cause a deliberate in-race collision in an attempt to win the championship. Historically, the 1989 championship battle between McLaren teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost was decided by such an incident at the Japanese Grand Prix; the 1990 championship rematch, with Prost now at Ferrari, ended in Senna's favour with another deliberate collision at the Suzuka race; Michael Schumacher's collision with Damon Hill at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix took the Briton out of title contention in the 1994 season; and a collision caused by Schumacher with Jacques Villeneuve at the 1997 European Grand Prix led to the German driver's disqualification from the 1997 season. In response to such concerns, race director Michael Masi warned that Verstappen or Hamilton could be subject to further sanctions from the FIA, the sport's governing body, if one of them decided to manufacture a deliberate collision in an attempt to engineer a favourable championship result, up to and including championship disqualification or future race bans.

Practice

Three practice sessions were scheduled over the course of the weekend. The first session took place at 13:30 local time (UTC+04:00) on Friday 10 December. The second session took place at 17:00. The third session took place at 14:00 on Saturday, 11 December. The first practice session passed without incident and ended with Verstappen setting the fastest time, followed by Bottas and Hamilton. The second practice session ended with Hamilton fastest by 0.3 seconds to second-placed Esteban Ocon, while Bottas was third fastest ahead of Verstappen, 0.6 seconds behind Hamilton. Räikkönen crashed at turn 14 just as the session was concluding, but was unhurt.

Qualifying

Qualifying started at 17:00 local time on Saturday, 11 December. The first qualifying session was briefly suspended after Mick Schumacher collided with a bollard but was resumed without further incident, with the Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Bottas recording the fastest times. In the second session, initial flying laps on medium-compound tyres gave Hamilton a four-millisecond advantage over Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen. A lock-up on his second flying lap led to Verstappen's return to the pits for soft tyres. At the end of the session, Verstappen had improved to take first place on the timesheets. Having set the time on the faster soft-compound tyres he was locked to starting the race on Sunday with them, as Hamilton was likewise locked into using his more durable medium-compound tyres. In the third and final qualifying session, Verstappen was able to use the slipstream of his teammate Sergio Pérez to secure pole position, with Hamilton taking the second spot on the grid.

Qualifying classification

Notes

^a – Nikita Mazepin qualified 20th, but he withdrew before the race as he tested positive for coronavirus. His place on the grid was left vacant.

Race

Race report

The race started at 17:00 local time on Sunday, 12 December with an attendance of 153,000. Hamilton immediately took the lead from Verstappen on the main straight. Verstappen attempted an overtake at the turn 6-7 chicane on the inside. Verstappen's trajectory and late braking took him to the far outside of the track, Hamilton, still on the right, cut turn 7, claiming that Verstappen forced him off. Hamilton re-joined considerably further ahead of Verstappen than where he was before the corner. Red Bull Racing protested, arguing that he should have ceded the position to Verstappen, but were told by radio that Hamilton had ultimately given back any advantage gained. The incident was referred to the stewards, who decided that no further investigation was necessary, something Horner called "a total lack of consistency" mid-race. Hamilton then utilised the durability of his medium-compound tyres to extend his lead over Verstappen, whose soft-compound tyres were suffering from greater degradation.

Verstappen made his stop at the end of lap 13 with Hamilton following suit one lap later, both opting for a set of the hardest tyres. This elevated Pérez to P1, with the Mexican driver being instructed on radio to hold Hamilton up to allow for Verstappen to catch up. This reduced the gap between the contenders from about 11 seconds after the pits to 1.3 seconds on lap 21. Hamilton proceeded to extend the gap again to four seconds by the midpoint of the race.

On lap 26, Alfa Romeo's Räikkönen collided with the barriers at turn 6 due to brake issues, prompting his retirement in his 349th and final Formula One race. On the same lap, Russell retired in his final race for Williams due to gearbox issues. On lap 35, Giovinazzi retired his car alongside the track for the same reason as Russell, triggering a brief virtual safety car period. Red Bull used this opportunity to pit Verstappen in for a fresh set of the hard-compound tyres without losing track position; Mercedes, wary to give up track position, did not pit Hamilton. Though Verstappen gradually reduced the post-stop deficit from seventeen seconds to eleven, he was not on track to catch Hamilton before the end of the race.

On lap 53, Nicholas Latifi, who was fighting with Haas' Mick Schumacher for 15th place and had dirty tyres after going off circuit at turn 9, crashed at turn 14 and the safety car was deployed. Hamilton again did not pit because he did not have a sufficient gap to Verstappen, with the team possibly expecting the race to end under the safety car. Meanwhile, Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, retaining second position. Pérez retired to the pits to prevent a possible retirement on track. As the debris from Latifi's crash was being cleared by the race marshals, the lapped drivers were initially informed that they would not be permitted to overtake. On lap 57, the penultimate lap, Horner complained over radio to Masi to get "these lapped cars out of the way". Masi then directed the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen specifically to overtake the safety car, unlike the lapped cars behind Verstappen, which stayed in position. This had never happened before, as previously either none or all lapped cars followed this procedure.

Race classification

Notes

^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.

^2 – Sergio Pérez was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

^3 – Nikita Mazepin withdrew before the race as he tested positive for coronavirus. His place on the grid was left vacant.

Controversies surrounding safety car period

In the laps before the safety car, Hamilton was leading comfortably and looked all but set to win the race and the championship. The chaotic final laps produced multiple controversial incidents and decisions. The debates mainly revolved around race director Michael Masi's decisions to allow only the cars between the two title contenders to unlap themselves, and to prematurely end the safety car period, both of which were seen by some as inconsistent with usual race procedures and sparked debate over his motive.

Mercedes' protest

Mercedes immediately protested the race result, alleging that Masi violated safety car procedure by (1) allowing the cars directly in front of Verstappen to unlap themselves, and no others, and (2) ending the safety car period on the same lap instead of the following lap after having cars unlap themselves. The team additionally argued that Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton during the safety car. While the last point was dismissed on the grounds that Verstappen was not ahead at the end of the safety car period, the other issues were more contentious.

Article 48.12 of the 2021 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations stipulated that if a message for lapped cars to overtake is issued, any lapped cars are required to pass cars on the lead lap and the safety car, and that the safety car would return to the pit lane at the end of the lap following the one on which the last lapped car passed the race leader. Mercedes argued that Hamilton would have won the race if there had been full compliance with this article, and requested a corresponding amendment to the race classification.

Red Bull, in turn, argued that (a) "any cars" in the regulations did not mean "all cars", (b) Article 48.13 stated that the safety car is withdrawn the same lap as a 'Safety Car In This Lap' message is issued, overriding Article 48.12, (c) the race director assumes overriding authority over the use of the safety car according to Article 15.3, and (d) the race result would not have changed if all eight lapped cars had been permitted to unlap. Masi argued that Article 48.12 was intended to remove cars that "interfered" with drivers racing on the lead lap and that all teams had earlier, in principle, agreed that all races should end under racing conditions.

The stewards dismissed the protest on the grounds that, according to Articles 48.13 and 15.3, the race director has the "overriding authority" to amend any rule regarding safety car procedure as deemed necessary, and to declare Hamilton the winner for leading at lap 57 would effectively shorten the race and therefore be inappropriate. Verstappen was confirmed as world champion, pending any appeal.

Mercedes initially announced their intention to appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal citing potential breaches of Article 15 of the International Sporting Code and Article 10 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Code. On 15 December, the FIA announced that it would conduct a "detailed analysis and clarification exercise" of the event, investigating the running of the race to determine if adjustments to the safety car procedures were needed. They further stated that there was a "significant misunderstanding" about the rules by some of the teams, drivers and fans, an allegation for which they were criticised by journalist Scott Mitchell. The FIA admitted that the ongoing controversy was "tarnishing the image" of the sport. One day later, Mercedes announced that they would not to pursue an appeal, hours before a submission deadline, vowing to hold the FIA "accountable" nonetheless. Wolff explained that neither he nor Hamilton wished to be awarded the championship in court, and Mercedes would instead focus their efforts to ensure an equitable result from the investigation. Wolff remained heavily critical of Masi. In particular, Wolff criticised Masi's race control in Abu Dhabi as being inconsistent with his handling of the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, where Masi had claimed the Sporting Regulations mandated that all lapped cars must unlap themselves, and expressed his indignation at the perceived injustice. Both Wolff and Hamilton boycotted the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony. Hamilton was later fined for not attending; he asked the FIA to donate the money towards the work the body carries out with underprivileged children. Amid speculation that Hamilton might announce a snap retirement due to disillusionment with the events, Wolff indicated both he and his driver would continue in the sport after a period of reflection in the off-season.

Reactions and commentary

In the immediate post-race interview, Hamilton congratulated Verstappen and his family on his first World Drivers' Championship, as did his father Anthony. Wolff congratulated Verstappen via text message.

Several drivers expressed discontent over what had transpired. In a last-lap radio message to his race engineer Peter Bonnington, which was not played on the television feed, Hamilton said the race had been "manipulated". Russell, who was signed to be Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes in 2022, called the decisions of Michael Masi "unacceptable". Norris, one of the five drivers permitted to unlap themselves, said the decision to go racing again on the last lap was made "for TV". The four other drivers, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc, and Vettel, also expressed confusion at the sudden instruction to unlap. Daniel Ricciardo, the first driver not permitted to unlap himself, said he was "speechless" at the instruction, which prevented him to race other drivers on newer soft-compound tyres. Sainz Jr., who was positioned behind Ricciardo and Lance Stroll upon the restart, immediately under pressure from Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, and Bottas behind, opined that the decision to resume racing under the circumstances "nearly cost [him his] podium". Speaking at Aston Martin's 2022 car launch in February 2022, Stroll described the Abu Dhabi situation as "ridiculous", articulating that rules should be set in stone before a season starts.

Masi's decisions were widely criticised as unusual and to contrive excitement. 1996 world champion Damon Hill commented that the decision appeared without precedent, stating that it was "a new way of running the sport, where the race director can make these ad hoc decisions". 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg felt that Masi "did not follow the rules" and Horner demanding "one more lap of racing" to Masi via radio was inappropriate. Writing for Fox Sports, Jack Austin stated that Formula One "engineered" the finish out of a "desperation for drama". Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting that Masi's decision was to ensure that "Netflix gets another juicy storyline for the next season of Drive to Survive", and also questioned his capability in effectively officiating a race. BBC chief Formula One writer Andrew Benson noted that Masi had "failed to apply the rules correctly in two different ways" and appeared to have changed his mind about the procedures, as he had followed another course of action during the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix when his explanation had been: "There's a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past." In a documentary reviewing the title battle, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff compared the final lap to the abolished golden goal rule formerly used in association football. Former racing driver Susie Wolff was in "disbelief" over Masi having "[interpreted] the rules in a way that had never been applied before".

Regulation changes and removal of Masi as race director

On 17 December 2021, bin Sulayem hinted at changes to avoid such controversy in the future, and did not rule out the possibility of removing Masi from his role as race director. On 13 January 2022, it was reported that the FIA was considering making changes to the safety car procedures as well as its own internal operational structure within Formula One after the FIA launched a consultation with all ten Formula One teams on "various issues". In line with the deal that had Mercedes drop their appeal, the FIA published new guidelines ahead of the 2022 season which included stricter rules on wheel-to-wheel combat as well as stricter enforcement of track limits through revised phrasings.

Former Formula One driver-turned commentator Martin Brundle commented that "removing Masi won't solve F1's credibility concerns" caused by the incident, but three-time Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert felt Masi had done "too much damage" to the sport's reputation and should be replaced. On 28 January 2022, the BBC reported that Masi would be replaced as part of a restructure to the officiating system, with race officials expected to be given more flexibility through rule tweaks over matters such as the deployment of the safety car, and that teams will likely be prohibited from talking to the race director on stewards decisions. Motorspors news website The Race and Sky Sports also ran similar stories on Masi being replaced. The Race's article further stated that some of the responsibilities of the race director could be reassigned to different personnel. FIA secretary General Peter Bayer stated that the race director had "too much" to cope with. Bayer also stated that Masi could stay with the organisation in another capacity. Following its investigation and a meeting of the F1 Commission on 14 February 2022 the FIA said it would reveal an 'action plan' for structural changes within its organisation later that same week.

On 17 February 2022, race control was restructured, with Masi removed from the position of race director and with Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich alternating in the role with former deputy race director Herbie Blash as a permanent advisor and a new virtual race control with the parameters of acceptable communication between teams and race director being restricted to reduce lobbying. Radio transmissions between teams and the FIA will no longer be broadcast on television to ease pressure on race officials. The FIA subsequently revealed regulation changes regarding safety car procedures to be used from the 2022 season onwards. Under these changes rather than waiting until the lap after the last car has unlapped itself from the leader, the safety car will now be withdrawn one lap after the instruction that lapped cars may unlap themselves has been given. In remarks published on 11 April 2022, Toto Wolff referred to Masi as having been a "liability" to the sport and hinted that he did not take well to receiving feedback or criticism from anybody as well as suggesting that Masi had on occasion acted borderline disrespectful towards drivers in driver briefings.

FIA inquiry and report

The FIA review began in January 2022. On 9 February 2022, in the course of the inquiry radio messages between Masi and Red Bull team manager Jonathan Wheatley emerged, the exchange suggesting that Masi had taken instructions from Wheatley, with the Red Bull manager appearing to author the notion of Masi not needing to let all lapped cars unlap themselves as well as withdrawing the safety car quickly, something later described as a "bromance" by Wolff. In March 2022, the FIA published their official report. It included the following points:

The FIA report also concluded that the communication between the team principals of Mercedes and Red Bull with Masi during the final laps was inappropriate, and recommended changes be made "in order to protect the Race Director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully". Further recommendations were made to clarify the safety car regulations. The report significantly contributed to reforms by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem aimed at restructuring and modernising race operations.

After the final report was presented to the World Motor Sport Council, the FIA issued a press statement stating (inter alia) that race director Michael Masi had acted "in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances".

Final Championship standings

Verstappen finished the season eight points ahead of Hamilton as the first Red Bull driver since 2013 to win the championship. He was also the first in a Honda-powered car to do so since Senna in 1991. Mercedes won their eighth consecutive Constructors' title, extending their own record. It was the first time since 2008, when Hamilton had won for McLaren, that the Driver's champion had not been driving for the Constructors' champions.

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Bold text indicates the 2021 World Champions

Legacy

Immediately after the race, Nicholas Latifi apologised for causing the crash that led to the controversial safety car period. Over the ensuing days, Latifi stated that he received abuse and death threats from people on social media and condemned the online abuse. A few months later, Latifi revealed that he had received messages of support from Lewis Hamilton and that he had to be accompanied by additional personal security when attending events ahead of the 2022 season. He also confirmed personal plans to highlight the effect on mental health that online abuse can have on people.

On 11 January 2022, the BBC reported that Hamilton was considering his future in the sport pending the outcome of the FIA report, with the Formula One paddock expecting the FIA to take significant action as a result of the race. According to Benson, Mercedes denied claims that they dropped their post race appeal after being assured that Masi would step down or be removed from his role. On the same day, Formula One journalist Mark Hughes noted that Hamilton's silence since the race had echoes of Ayrton Senna's past feud with the governing body after the championship deciders in 1989 and 1990. Mitchell commented that the Abu Dhabi situation was just one part of a wider dissatisfaction from teams with how the FIA had begun to apply regulations in the seasons following Masi's appointment in 2019. Meanwhile, on the subject of Hamilton potentially announcing a snap retirement, 1978 world champion Mario Andretti believed the desire to try and win an eighth title would prove too hard to resist regardless of the outcome of the inquiry, and that Hamilton would be doing a "disservice" to himself if he did not race for another season. McLaren CEO Zak Brown said the sport should not just automatically assume that Hamilton was going to stay on in the sport for 2022, though Brown personally expected him to contest it. Brown also cited the Abu Dhabi controversy along with the last minute cancellation of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix and the handling of the rain affected 2021 Belgian Grand Prix as symptoms of the FIA suffering from organisational problems for a significant period of time, which needed to be resolved urgently. The 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve speculated that Hamilton was staying silent because he was trying to distance himself from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, perhaps considering a career in the film industry. Hamilton subsequently broke his silence, and continued to race in the 2022 season. He went 30 months without a win, doubting himself, and taking a toll on his mental health.

Michael Masi has also been subject to social media abuse and death threats as a result of the controversies due to which he sought support for his mental health. During the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Masi wished to meet Hamilton in an effort to explain his momentous decisions. Hamilton declined, as there was "nothing to say".