Motorsport · 2021 · Abu Dhabi, UAE
One Lap to Decide a Championship
A late safety car and a controversial restart set up a single-lap shootout on the final tour of the season, and Max Verstappen passes Lewis Hamilton to win his first world title.
8 points
Championship margin
Final lap, turn 5
Decisive overtake
1st (of multiple)
Verstappen's world titles
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen arrived at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi level on points, having spent the entire year in one of the closest and most combative championship battles the sport had produced in years. Hamilton led comfortably for most of the race and appeared to be cruising toward an eighth world title.
A late crash brought out the safety car, and race director Michael Masi's handling of which lapped cars were permitted to unlap themselves before the restart, allowing only those separating Verstappen from Hamilton to do so, set up a single-lap sprint to the finish with Verstappen on fresher tyres directly behind Hamilton. Verstappen passed him at turn five and held on to win the race and his first championship by eight points.
The decision was hugely controversial, prompting an FIA review that found the restart procedure had not been correctly applied under the sporting regulations, and contributed to sweeping changes in how the role of race director was structured the following season. Verstappen's win stood, however, and it launched a period of dominance that saw him add further titles in the years that followed.
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