The Last Lap That Will Never Be Forgotten

For 57 of 58 laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was going to be champion. His Mercedes W12 was faster. He had controlled the race from the start, pulling out a gap of twelve seconds to Verstappen before the strategies played out. When the Red Bull pitted for fresh soft tyres and Mercedes kept Hamilton out on old hard rubber to cover the undercut, the Dutchman came back out of the pits in second place — but with five lapped cars between him and Hamilton. The safety car was on track following Nicholas Latifi's crash at Turn 14. The championship was Hamilton's to hold.

Then race director Michael Masi made a decision that defied both the letter and spirit of the regulations and will be scrutinised for as long as the sport exists. With one lap remaining, Masi instructed only the five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves — not all lapped cars, as the regulations specified, but only those five. The safety car came in. Verstappen sat directly behind Hamilton. One lap. Fresh soft tyres against old hard tyres. No lapped traffic in the way.

Verstappen had been in this position before — hunting, attacking, refusing to yield. Into Turn 5 on the final lap, he pulled alongside Hamilton on the inside. Hamilton ran wide onto the kerb. Verstappen was through. He crossed the finish line and the Dutch nation erupted. The first Dutch World Champion in Formula 1 history. A man who had been racing Formula 1 since the age of seventeen, who had won nine races that season in a Red Bull that was often not the fastest car, who had driven with ferocity and skill across 22 rounds, took the title.

Mercedes protested. The stewards rejected the protest. Mercedes considered an appeal and ultimately withdrew it. The FIA commissioned an investigation into the events of the final laps. It published a report that acknowledged the safety car procedures had not been correctly followed. Michael Masi was removed from his position as race director. The result stood. Hamilton has never publicly confirmed that he considers the outcome legitimate. He did not attend the FIA prize ceremony. He did not race for three months.

Max Verstappen won the race and the World Championship for Red Bull, his first title and the team's first since 2013. Carlos Sainz finished second for Ferrari, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, who had led the race emphatically for all but its final lap, finished second on the road and second in the championship by eight points: Verstappen 395.5, Hamilton 387.5.

The result prompted one of the most extensive regulatory and governance reviews in the sport's history. New race direction procedures were introduced for 2022. The controversy raised fundamental questions about the role of race direction in Formula 1, the discretionary powers afforded to officials in real time, and the degree to which rules can be applied selectively in the name of creating a better sporting spectacle.

The 2021 season was the closest championship battle since Hamilton's first title in 2008. Hamilton and Verstappen had collided on track at Silverstone — Verstappen hospitalised briefly — and again at Monza, where both cars were eliminated. The intensity of their rivalry pushed the boundaries of sporting conduct and generated more column inches, broadcast hours and online commentary than any championship in recent memory.

Verstappen's title, however it was decided, was not undeserved. He had won nine races to Hamilton's eight. He had driven with exceptional bravery throughout. His championship was the beginning of something: in 2022 he won 15 of 22 races. In 2023 he won 19. The 2021 season's controversial finale has never detracted from those achievements in the minds of those who watched him drive them.

December 2021 was the month the Omicron variant of Covid-19 emerged and began its rapid global spread. Governments that had believed the vaccination programmes might return life to pre-pandemic normality were imposing new restrictions as hospitals in several countries filled with patients. Britain had reintroduced indoor mask requirements. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan had concluded in August with chaotic scenes at Kabul airport that had defined the foreign policy conversation for months.

Formula 1 had completed its first season with fans back in the grandstands at most races, the sport having found a way to continue through the pandemic with bubble protocols, limited attendances and a schedule that was redrawn multiple times. The Abu Dhabi grand prix — held under the lights of Yas Marina, broadcast to a global audience — provided the kind of finale that in happier circumstances would have been universally celebrated. In the circumstances, it became the most debated sporting event of the year, spilling far beyond the usual motorsport audience into mainstream media.

Clear and dry, as Abu Dhabi in December reliably provides. Air temperature at race start approximately 26°C, cooling to around 22°C as the sun set and the circuit's floodlights came on. The warm, stable conditions played no significant role in the race's outcome. The Yas Marina circuit under floodlights is a spectacular venue, its architecture and lighting creating an ambience unique in Formula 1. On the evening of 12 December 2021, that spectacle was the backdrop to one of the most contentious conclusions in the sport's history.