WINNER
A worthy first world title was won in the most dramatic end for Max Verstappen, who for much of the race looked like he had no answer to a dominant Lewis Hamilton.
But in a final twist of fate, fortune shone for Verstappen when he staged a one-round shootout to determine the outcome of the World Cup.
Red Bull’s risk of switching to softs gave Verstappen a clear advantage over Hamilton for the controversial safety car restart before the Dutchman sealed the title with a dive bomb on the final lap at Turn 5.
Despite the controversial ending, there is no doubt that Verstappen was a worthy world champion after an exceptional F1 season.
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Honda
Honda ended its dream of its F1 trip when it retired from the sport after playing a big role in Verstappen’s title fight.
The Japanese manufacturer has seen big gains over the past two seasons and its hard work over the winter paid off in a fantastic 2021 season with a total of 11 wins for Red Bull.
Honda got its perfect farewell by taking Verstappen to the world title 30 years after Ayrton Senna became the last rider to win a title with a Honda engine.
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Carlos Sainz was a beneficiary of the late drama when Red Bull retired Sergio Perez under the safety car, promoting Sainz to third podium.
Despite being held up by the lapped Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll, Sainz managed to keep Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes behind him during the restart, making sure that he secured his fourth podium of the season for the late attacking AlphaTauri duo.
A great drive in the last race of the season was ultimately overshadowed by the late chaos. However, Sainz’s result ensured he rounded off a brilliant first season at Ferrari by beating Charles Leclerc in an impressive manner, overtaking his team-mate and finishing in the best fifth place of his career in the drivers’ standings.
Yuki Tsunoda
Another driver whose efforts were completely overshadowed was Yuki Tsunoda.
The Japanese rookie had his first season in Formula 1 up and down, but ended the campaign in style with an excellent performance over the weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Tsunoda launched a diving bomb to wrest Bottas fourth place in the chicane from Turn 6-7 and to seal the best result of his young F1 career.
He landed within range of a first F1 podium and was just 0.519 seconds behind Sainz when they crossed the finish line.
Netflix
Netflix has certainly finished its Hollywood-style script for the next season of Drive to Survive with the course of the Abu Dhabi GP.
A blockbuster F1 season from start to finish saw the Netflix TV crews have tons of action on and off the track throughout 2021.
With no shortage of drama and controversy, Netflix is spoiled for choice when trying to tell the story of a compelling campaign.
A title decision in the final lap, just seven turns to go, was the stuff of dreams for scriptwriters. Hopefully Netflix won’t feel the need to produce additional drama.
LOSER
Mercedes
Despite the unprecedented eighth Constructors’ World Championship in a row, Mercedes had little reason to celebrate after the Abu Dhabi GP.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will feel hard after missing a championship double they believed they deserved after Hamilton looked in complete control and on course for a record-breaking eighth world title until the final lap.
Mercedes saw two protests rejected by the stewards and now has to decide whether to appeal and possibly bring this World Cup result to the sports arbitration tribunal.
Valtteri Bottas
It was not the end of his Mercedes term that Valtteri Bottas would have hoped for when the Finn went out whimpering in Abu Dhabi.
Bottas had to use an older engine for reliability reasons and was only able to qualify for the season finale in sixth place on the grid. A bad start resulted in him dropping to eighth place, which meant he was never able to support Hamilton’s bid for the title.
Bottas found himself in fourth place when the safety car restarted, but like Hamilton he remained a sitting duck on old hard tires. After Bottas had been overtaken by both AlphaTauris on the last tour, he finally came home, where he started in a cautious sixth.
Aston Martin
A disappointing end to an overall painful 2021 F1 season for Aston Martin as Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll again missed points despite only 14 cars reaching the finish in Abu Dhabi.
It was certainly not the year the Silverstone team had been hoping for after the early excitement surrounding the rebranding and winning four-time world champion Vettel as a manager. As it turned out, Aston Martin slipped to a distant seventh place in the constructors’ championship.
Aston Martin hopes a new era of F1 regulations and some smart signings can help the team return to their former competitiveness as the front-runners in midfield in 2022.
Alfa Romeo
Nobody wanted Kimi Raikkonen’s last race to run because the Finn’s famous F1 career ended in retirement after a brake failure. It was a sad end to a legendary career.
Alfa Romeo was disappointed as the team suffered a double DNF after also losing Antonio Giovinazzi to a mechanical problem during the final in Abu Dhabi.
Alfa Romeo missed a chance to score potential points in a chaotic end to the race with its two cars on the sidelines when Williams finished eighth in the constructors’ championship.
The FIA
The FIA ended up being the author of its own problems as it had unclear racing rules and was haunted by several inconsistent and puzzling decisions throughout the year.
It was crowned by an unprecedented and questionable step by race director Michael Masi to throw away the rule book in the closing stages of the race on Sunday, apparently in a somewhat artificial conclusion.
This means that there is now the possibility that the title will be decided by a court in 2021. One of the best F1 seasons of all time would not come to an end like this.
A new version of the regulations – or at least some clarifications – during the off-season seems necessary after one of the most controversial seasons in years.
Formula 1 urgently needs clarity before we race again in order to avoid further chaotic situations in 2022.
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