Motorsport · 2021 · Abu Dhabi, UAE
One Lap to Decide a Championship
A late safety car and a contested restart turn the final lap of the season into a one-lap race, 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, after a year of the closest and most combative championship racing the sport had produced in a long time. Hamilton led comfortably for most of the race and looked to be on his way to an eighth world title.
A late crash brought out the safety car, and race director Michael Masi allowed only the lapped cars sitting between Verstappen and Hamilton to unlap themselves before the restart, which left Verstappen directly behind Hamilton on fresher tyres with a single lap to run. He passed him at turn five and held on to take the race and the championship by eight points.
An FIA review afterwards found the restart procedure had not been correctly applied under the sporting regulations, and the role of race director was restructured for the following season. Verstappen's win stood, and it opened a period of dominance that brought him further titles in the years that followed.
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