The race was originally scheduled for 5 December, but was rescheduled to 12 December after the postponement of the Australian Grand Prix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original date was taken by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while the Australian race was cancelled and replaced by the Qatar Grand Prix, making Abu Dhabi the 22nd and last race of the season.
The Yas Marina Circuit underwent a layout change intended to increase top speeds and overtaking opportunities. The chicane after turn 4 was removed, the turn 5 hairpin was widened, and the four-corner sequence of turns 11–14 became a single banked turn 9. The radii of turns 12–15 were increased, and the changes to turn 15 allowed cars to travel flat out through the corner. Sole tyre supplier Pirelli provided the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds — the softest selections available — for use in dry conditions.
Jack Aitken participated for Williams in the first practice session in place of George Russell. Nikita Mazepin tested positive for COVID-19 after qualifying and did not participate in the race; he was not replaced.
The Grand Prix marked the final Formula One race for 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who had announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2021 season a few months earlier, ending a two-decade career spanning a then-record 349 Grand Prix starts, after which he moved to NASCAR Cup Series. It was also the final race for Antonio Giovinazzi, who moved to Formula E, and for Mazepin, whose contract was terminated following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was 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 featuring photos from his time at Mercedes and wore special blue racing overalls. Alpine featured the words "El Plan" on both of their cars, referencing a popular internet meme.
The race was also the final race for Honda as official engine supplier, as Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri raced with Red Bull Powertrains from 2022.
Title rivals Verstappen and Hamilton entered the round with 369.5 points each, level for the final round for the first time since 1974 and only the second time in the sport's history. The driver who scored the most points would win the championship; if both scored an equal amount, Verstappen would win owing to having more race wins — nine to Hamilton's eight prior to the race. The Drivers' Championship was being decided in the final round for the 30th time and the first time since 2016.
In the Constructors' Championship, 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 decided the Constructors' Championship. In the midfield, Scuderia Ferrari led McLaren in the battle for third place by a margin of 38.5 points.
Race director Michael Masi warned before the race that Verstappen or Hamilton could face further FIA sanctions, up to and including championship disqualification or future race bans, if either manufactured a deliberate collision.
Three practice sessions were held. The first, on Friday 10 December at 13:30 local time, ended with Verstappen fastest, followed by Bottas and Hamilton. The second, at 17:00, ended with Hamilton fastest by 0.3 seconds over Esteban Ocon, with Bottas third and Verstappen 0.6 seconds behind Hamilton. Räikkönen crashed at turn 14 late in the second session but was unhurt. The third session took place at 14:00 on Saturday 11 December.
Qualifying began at 17:00 local time on Saturday 11 December. The first session was briefly suspended after Mick Schumacher collided with a bollard. In the second session, flying laps on medium-compound tyres gave Hamilton a four-millisecond advantage over Verstappen, but a lock-up on Verstappen's second lap led him to return to the pits for soft tyres, and he ended the session first. Being set on soft tyres, Verstappen was locked to starting the race on them; Hamilton was locked into his more durable medium-compound tyres. In the final qualifying session, Verstappen used the slipstream of his teammate Sergio Pérez to secure pole position, with Hamilton second.
Mazepin qualified 20th but withdrew before the race after testing positive for coronavirus.
The race started at 17:00 local time on Sunday 12 December before 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; his trajectory and late braking took him to the far outside, and Hamilton cut turn 7, claiming Verstappen had forced him off. Hamilton rejoined considerably further ahead than before the corner. Red Bull protested, arguing Hamilton should have ceded the position, but were told by radio that Hamilton had given back any advantage gained. The stewards decided no further investigation was necessary, which team principal Christian Horner called "a total lack of consistency". Hamilton then used the durability of his medium-compound tyres to extend his lead as Verstappen's soft-compound tyres suffered greater degradation.
Verstappen stopped at the end of lap 13; Hamilton followed one lap later, both taking a set of the hardest tyres. This elevated Pérez to the lead; the Mexican driver was instructed by radio to hold Hamilton up, reducing the gap between the contenders from about 11 seconds after the pit stops to 1.3 seconds on lap 21. Hamilton then extended the gap again to four seconds by the midpoint of the race.
On lap 26, Räikkönen retired due to brake issues at turn 6 in his 349th and final Formula One race. On the same lap Russell retired at his final race for Williams due to gearbox issues. On lap 35, Giovinazzi retired for the same reason, triggering a brief virtual safety car period. Red Bull pitted Verstappen for a fresh set of hard-compound tyres without losing track position; Mercedes did not pit Hamilton. Verstappen reduced his deficit from 17 seconds to 11 but was not on track to catch Hamilton before the end of the race.
On lap 53, Nicholas Latifi crashed at turn 14 while fighting with Mick Schumacher for 15th place after going off circuit at turn 9, and the safety car was deployed. Hamilton again did not pit; Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, retaining second position. Pérez retired to the pits to prevent a possible on-track retirement. Lapped drivers were initially told 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 directed the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen specifically to overtake the safety car, while the lapped cars behind Verstappen stayed in position — a procedure that had never happened before.
There did not appear to be enough time left to restart the race, as regulations stipulated the safety car should return to the pits at the end of the following lap. Immediately after the last lapped car passed Hamilton, however, race control announced the safety car would enter the pits at the end of the current lap, allowing one final lap of green-flag conditions. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff remonstrated over the radio: "Michael, this isn't right!" Verstappen overtook Hamilton into turn 5 to win the race and the 2021 World Drivers' Championship, with Hamilton second. Over the radio, Wolff appealed to Masi to reinstate the order of the penultimate lap; Masi replied: "Toto, it's called a motor race, ok? We went car racing."
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third. Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth, a career best at that point.
Mercedes immediately protested the race result, alleging Masi had violated safety car procedure by: (1) allowing only the cars between the two title contenders to unlap themselves rather than all lapped cars; (2) ending the safety car period on the same lap rather than the following lap; and (3) that Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton during the safety car period. The last point was dismissed on the grounds that Verstappen was not ahead at the end of the safety car period. Mercedes based their argument on Article 48.12 of the 2021 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. Red Bull countered that "any cars" in the regulations did not mean "all cars", and that Article 48.13 and Article 15.3 together gave the race director overriding authority. The stewards dismissed the protest.
Mercedes initially announced their intention to appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal. On 16 December, one day after the FIA announced it would conduct a "detailed analysis and clarification exercise", Mercedes announced they would not pursue an appeal, hours before a submission deadline, vowing to hold the FIA "accountable". Wolff explained that neither he nor Hamilton wished to be awarded the championship in court. Both Wolff and Hamilton boycotted the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony; Hamilton was later fined for not attending and asked the FIA to donate the money towards its work with underprivileged children.
Reactions were widespread. Hamilton told his race engineer Peter Bonnington in a last-lap radio message that was not broadcast on television that the race had been "manipulated". Russell called Masi's decisions "unacceptable". Lando Norris, one of the five drivers permitted to unlap themselves, said the decision to go racing on the last lap was made "for TV". Daniel Ricciardo, the first driver not permitted to unlap, said he was "speechless". Sainz Jr. opined that the decision to resume racing "nearly cost [him his] podium". 1996 world champion Damon Hill commented that the decision appeared without precedent, stating 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 Masi "did not follow the rules". Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic suggested that Masi's decision was to ensure "Netflix gets another juicy storyline for the next season of Drive to Survive". Andrew Benson of the BBC concluded that Masi had "failed to apply the rules correctly in two different ways".
In January 2022, the BBC reported that Mercedes had reached a quid pro quo agreement with the FIA, in which Masi and Formula One's technical director Nikolas Tombazis would not be in the same positions for the 2022 season, in exchange for dropping the appeal.
The FIA review began in January 2022. In February 2022, radio messages emerged between Masi and Red Bull team manager Jonathan Wheatley, the exchange suggesting Masi had taken instructions from Wheatley — with Wheatley appearing to author the notion that Masi did not need to let all lapped cars unlap themselves and that he should withdraw the safety car quickly, later described by Wolff as a "bromance". In March 2022, the FIA published their official report. The FIA concluded that the rules had been ambiguous and that safety car regulations required clarification. The FIA issued a press statement stating that Masi had acted "in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances". The report significantly contributed to reforms by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem aimed at restructuring and modernising race operations.
On 17 February 2022, race control was restructured: Masi was removed as race director and replaced by Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich alternating in the role, with former deputy race director Herbie Blash as a permanent advisor. A new virtual race control was introduced and acceptable communication between teams and race director was restricted to reduce lobbying. Radio transmissions between teams and the FIA were no longer to be broadcast on television to ease pressure on officials. New safety car regulations for the 2022 season stipulated that the safety car would be withdrawn one lap after the instruction that lapped cars may unlap themselves — rather than waiting until the lap after all cars had unlapped.
Verstappen finished the season eight points ahead of Hamilton as the first Red Bull driver since 2013 to win the championship and the first in a Honda-powered car to do so since Ayrton 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 Drivers' champion was not driving for the Constructors' champions.
Latifi apologised for causing the crash that led to the safety car period. He subsequently received abuse and death threats on social media, and revealed he had received messages of support from Hamilton and needed additional personal security at events ahead of the 2022 season.
Hamilton went 30 months without a win after Abu Dhabi, doubting himself and experiencing a toll on his mental health. Masi also faced social media abuse and death threats and sought support for his mental health. During the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Masi wished to meet Hamilton to explain his decisions; Hamilton declined, stating there was "nothing to say".
In 2024, Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey reflected that Abu Dhabi had left a psychological effect on Mercedes, who were unable to move on. Wolff stated he had "never spoken with Masi since the race" and predicted that he and Hamilton would "never overcome the pain and the distress", adding that Masi had "destroyed the record of the greatest champion of all time". In an interview with The Telegraph almost four years after the race, Wolff revealed that both he and Hamilton still think about Abu Dhabi "every day".
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 1 related image
