Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Highlights of previous events

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021, a conclusion that unleashes passions.

Every Formula 1 fan remembers – and will remember for a long time, without a doubt – the end of the 2021 season. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen arrive at Yas Marina with the same number of points. They have fought, clashed, and tangled throughout the year to claim a highly symbolic crown on both sides. For Lewis Hamilton, it’s about becoming an 8-time world champion, an achievement never done before. For the Dutchman, it’s nothing less than his first title at stake. The tension is at its peak.

Max Verstappen starts in pole position, while his rival achieved the 2nd best time in qualifying. But from the start, the Mercedes driver takes advantage and thus leads the race, remarkably managing his tires throughout. As the race is nearing its end and the outcome seems sealed, Nicholas Latifi crashes into a wall in a corner with six laps remaining. This – sadly famous – accident triggers the deployment of the safety car.

Max Verstappen takes advantage of it to come in and switch to soft tires. As the safety car is about to come in, leaving only one lap before the finish, the FIA, in the midst of the general confusion, decides to allow the five cars separating Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the safety car. Result: the race resumes, and the Dutchman, with his fresh tires, has no difficulty in overtaking the Mercedes driver, who already has well-worn tires. Max Verstappen is thus crowned for the very first time, while the incident triggers a real scandal, which leads to the sidelining of race director Michael Masi. A few months later, the FIA concludes that it was a human error on the part of the Australian that led to the fiasco. And in November 2022, this event still stirs up passions…

The title of champion by Nico Rosberg in 2016.

In 2016, the title of world champion was also played out in the final round at Yas Marina. Nico Rosberg is locked in a battle with his teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure his first crown. After a fiercely competitive season, the German clearly has the advantage as he arrives in Abu Dhabi with a 12-point lead over his pursuer. Hamilton starts on pole position, while Rosberg is close behind. The former maintains his lead comfortably, but if he wants to be crowned champion, he must put some distance between himself and his teammate. His strategy: to slow down and impose a false pace, hoping that other cars catch up and manage to overtake Nico Rosberg. While the idea is rather creative, it does not succeed: the German holds his ground and clings to his second position, ahead of Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.

The British driver emerged victorious at the end of the race, but it is therefore Keke Rosberg’s son who will be crowned world champion, by securing a firm second place on the podium. It is his first and only crown, as he retires the following year.

Several spectacular accidents over the years

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During the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher spins out at the chicane. The German’s Mercedes rotates 180 degrees while the other cars approach him at high speed. The worst happens when Vitantonio Liuzzi’s car climbs onto Schumacher’s and narrowly misses the German’s head. Both cars are in a terrible state, but the drivers come out unscathed. A true miracle, considering that the safety halo did not yet exist.

In 2012, the race was marked by the spectacular rise of Nico Rosberg, who was surprised by the braking of HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan, causing his steering to break. Here too, both drivers are unharmed, although the German’s car lifted off the ground and ended up crashing into the wall after climbing onto the HRT.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix once again witnesses a terrible accident in 2018, when Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault, who was fighting with Romain Grosjan, flips over multiple times at high speed and crashes into the tire barrier… Upside down. « I am hanging like a cow. Pull me out of here, there’s fire! » the German asks his team, who will come out unharmed but with a big scare.