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Aside from the possibility of an appeal from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Max Verstappen has been confirmed as the World Champion of 2021 after the stewards in Abu Dhabi dismissed both protests following the conclusion of the final race of the season.

Mercedes protested two decisions made during the final couple of laps at the Yas Marina Circuit, the first being that Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton as the outgoing World Champion slowed the pack down ahead of the final lap restart.

The second protest was about the way the FIA and race director Michael Masi decided to allow only the five cars in between Hamilton and Verstappen through ahead of the restart rather than the whole pack, and then immediately indicating that the safety car period was ending at the end of the lap.

The first protest was dismissed quickly, with the stewards feeling that Verstappen did nothing wrong, even though he was briefly ahead of Hamilton for a matter of seconds before falling back behind him.  The important part was that the Red Bull Racing driver was not ahead of Hamilton at the finish line.

The second protest was more intricate, with Mercedes claiming that the FIA rules were not followed to the letter, with only five of eight lapped cars allowed to unlap themselves ahead of the restart, which came on the same lap as the message was given that those cars could move ahead of the race leader.

Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to win the drivers’ championship at the 2021 Abu Dhabi  Grand Prix.  Carlos Sainz joined the title rivals on the podium.

The late crash of Nicholas Latifi brought out the Safety Car with five laps to go. As the laps were counting down, Race Control made a late decision to let the lapped cars to overtake and restarted the race with one lap to go.

On that final lap, Verstappen on a new set of tyres overtook Hamilton to win the race and take the drivers’ championship. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team has lodged a protest against the decisions made by Race Control in the final laps.

The race at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi started as the sun was setting and the lights were taking hold with air temperatures at 25 degree C and track temperatures at 30 degree C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C3), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C4), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C5), the softest compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

After feeling very motivated ahead of the season finale, Nikita Mazepin has tested positive for Covid-19 and has therefore been put into isolation, the Russian will not be able to take part in the last race of the season.

The Uralkali Haas F1 Team released the following statement:

“Nikita Mazepin has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Yas Marina Circuit ahead of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The team therefore regrets to announce that Nikita will be unable to participate in the race.

“Nikita is physically well, having been asymptomatic, but he will now self-isolate and adhere to the guidelines of the relevant public health authorities, with safety the ultimate priority for all parties concerned.

“Uralkali Haas F1 Team wish Nikita well and we look forward to his return to the race track in early 2022 for pre-season testing.”

Laurent Mekies says Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday was a solid session for Scuderia Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc both making it through to Q3.

In what has proved to be an extremely close season amongst the midfield in 2021, it was good for Ferrari to secure top seven positions for both drivers, with Sainz ending fifth and Leclerc seventh, with Mekies, the Racing Director at the Maranello-based team, feeling both drivers gave it their all at the Yas Marina Circuit.

“A solid qualifying session, especially in terms of our performance level,” said Mekies.  “Right from the start of the season, we have seen that it’s very close behind the two teams at the front and it takes very little to find oneself ahead or behind a group that can be made up of between ten to 12 cars.

“Carlos and Charles gave it their best shot and were in the hunt for a place on the second row right to the end and their grid positions are a good starting point for tomorrow’s race.”

Mekies says the updated track in Abu Dhabi has proved once again that Ferrari can adapt to new conditions quickly, and he hopes that both Sainz and Leclerc and end the year inside the points and with Ferrari securing third place in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the McLaren F1 Team.

The Uralkali Haas F1 Team will be looking forward to the first Qualifying session of the 2022 season, after qualifying yet again in nineteenth and twentieth for the last round of the 2021 championship. Mick Schumacher will start from nineteenth with Nikita Mazepin in twentieth at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Schumacher has actually had relatively good pace so far at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, unfortunately for the rookie though it wasn’t his best qualifying of the season.

Schumacher is disappointed with his final qualifying of his rookie year but is excited for qualifying next season.

“I’m happy that we had a good year overall with qualifying pace but I think today was not the best from my side – we didn’t really know what we wanted from each other, the car and I. Those things happen, we learn from them and we’ll go back and analyze what we did different and see how we can improve it.

“When we go back next year and we’re in the position to be going into Q2 more, we don’t have that. We had a pretty good car for qualifying, so hopefully we have an even better one for the race to go and fight.”

Andreas Seidl says the McLaren F1 Team are looking forward to finishing the 2021 Formula 1 season on a high with a double-points finish, and they will go into the finale in Abu Dhabi with both drivers starting inside the top ten.

Lando Norris put in a superb performance to take third place on the grid at the Yas Marina Circuit, with the Briton’s final lap good enough to relegate Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez to fourth.  He also finished ahead of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Valtteri Bottas.

Daniel Ricciardo was unable to better tenth on the grid for the final race of the season, with the Australian struggling to match his team-mate as he struggled to get performance out of the soft Pirelli tyre when it mattered.

Seidl, the Team Principal of McLaren, says ending the year with a good haul of points is the aim on Sunday as they bid goodbye to the MCL35M that has seen the team take one victory, four further podiums, one pole position and two fastest laps in 2021.

“A very good result from the final qualifying session of the MCL35M at the end of a long season,” said Seidl.  “Lando pulled out a sensational final lap to take P3 – he’ll have a front row seat for tomorrow’s championship battle between Lewis and Max.

In a surprising turn of events, Nicholas Latifi out-qualified team-mate George Russell at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Canadian lines up sixteenth with the British driver in seventeenth at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Latifi proved that Williams Racing have nothing to worry about next season, after out-qualifying the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team bound Russell. Latifi will take some satisfaction from beating his team-mate but is disappointed not to have made Qualifying Two.

The Canadian believes more was possible but is feeling good ahead of the last race of the year.

“I think we were hoping for more on track today as the car felt decent. It’s rare that neither of us make it to Q2, it’s the minimum goal so to not achieve that as a team is frustrating. There are definitely things we could have improved; my lap time could have been better and we struggled a bit with traffic ahead of that last lap. It’s always an issue in Abu Dhabi when everyone is trying to get position in the final sector.

“It means you arrive at Turn One not really knowing what the car will do when you hit the brakes, so I expect we could have found some extra time there. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, it’s a long race and the new layout should improve overtaking.”

Kimi Räikkönen’s final Qualifying session in Formula 1 did not go to plan, with the Finn set to start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from eighteenth on the grid.

The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN driver, who will retire from the sport after this weekend’s race at the Yas Marina Circuit, was unable to break out of Q1 and will line-up on the penultimate row of the grid, ahead only of the two Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers.

Räikkönen’s final flying lap was undone by a slide at turn thirteen, and as a result he was forced to settle for eighteenth whereas a place in Q2 could have been possible with a clean effort.

“I was on a pretty good lap on my final run of Q1, the time looked good, but I got sideways in turn 13 and that was it,” said Räikkönen.  “It’s a pity as the car felt nice.”

Räikkönen is hoping to end his twenty-year career in Formula 1 on a high and move up the order on Sunday, but he knows from eighteenth, it will be difficult to bring an end to his time in the sport with a top ten finish.

Lance Stroll will start his one hundredth Grand Prix from thirteenth on the grid on Sunday, with the Canadian believing he got the maximum he could out of his AMR21 during Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team racer hopes to be able to move forward and fight for points at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday, and should he achieve that, he feels it would be a good way to mark his one hundredth Formula 1 race.

“I think P13 was around the maximum we could have achieved today,” said Stroll.  “We made some changes to the set-up of the car today and I am happier with the balance, which is positive for tomorrow.

“We will have a free choice of tyres for the start of the race and plenty of options with strategy, so there are opportunities to move forward in the race. We should be fighting to score points.

“That would be a nice way to mark my 100th race in Formula 1.”

Esteban Ocon took the honour of being top Alpine F1 Team qualifier for 2021, after putting his car in ninth place for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, team-mate Fernando Alonso was left angry in eleventh at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Esteban Ocon has put himself in a great position ahead of the final race of the season, after qualifying in ninth place. It wasn’t all plain-sailing for the Frenchman, who irritated Sebastian Vettel in Qualifying One, after appearing to unsettle the German whilst the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team driver came to the end of his lap.

Ocon should be fast in the opening phase of the race, the Frenchman will start on the soft tyre, whilst some around him will begin on the mediums.

Ocon is happy with how qualifying went, in what was a strong final qualifying of the year for the French driver.

“I think it’s positive today. I’m happy to be in Q3 again in ninth place, which was probably the maximum we could achieve. Everything was there, we were improving run by run, little bits at a time, so there was not much more left. Overall, it’s positive to be in the top ten for tomorrow’s race and happy to end the year – from a qualifying perspective – with this performance.

Carlos Sainz Jr. admitted to being ‘pretty satisfied’ with his performance during Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday, particularly on the back of an underwhelming Friday at the Yas Marina Circuit where he felt he was struggling to get the best out of his SF21.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver will line-up fifth on the grid on Sunday, and the result of Qualifying confirms the progress the Spaniard has made on Saturdays throughout his first season with the team in 2021.

Sainz says it is likely to be difficult to overtake during the final race of the season on Sunday, but he is eager to end his first year with Ferrari on a high and by taking fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship.

“I am pretty satisfied with my performance today, after yesterday was one of the most difficult Fridays in a long time and we’ve managed to recover well,” said Sainz.  “We worked hard to put together a competitive car so my thanks to the entire team.

“This session confirms I’ve made solid progress in qualifying since the beginning of the year, so that’s another positive from today.  Sector three was key: not pushing the tyres too much in the first two sectors and going for it at the end translated into a good lap.

Lando Norris admitted he did not expect to qualify third on the grid for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but the McLaren F1 Team driver was delighted he was able to achieve the position on row two.

Norris enjoyed his final flying lap around the Yas Marina Circuit that propelled him up to third place, with the Briton ending 0.016 seconds ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez.

He believes maintaining his position in third will be difficult on Sunday, particularly with the likes of Pérez and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Valtteri Bottas behind him, but he will be doing his best to end his best year in Formula 1 to date on a high.

“I’m very happy,” said Norris.  “I didn’t expect to be P3 today, but the car felt in a good position going into qualifying and I also felt like I did a very good lap when I needed to in my second run in Q3.

“Everything came together and I gave myself the best position for tomorrow to score some good points. So, I’m excited and looking forward to the race, which is going to be tough – but we’ll give it our best.”

Christian Horner says Max Verstappen’s lap that took him to pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was one of the best of the season, but it is now up to the team to convert that into victory on Sunday and into the Dutchman’s maiden Drivers’ Championship.

Verstappen took his tenth pole position of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday evening, with the current championship leader (on the basis of winning nine races in 2021 compared to Lewis Hamilton’s eight) ending more than three-tenths of a second ahead of his title rival.

The Dutchman benefitted from a tow from Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Pérez in setting his quickest lap time, and Team Principal Horner was delighted with the teamwork being completed by his two drivers when it really mattered.

“That was one of Max’s best laps of the year, but now we need to try and convert that tomorrow,” said Horner.  “Both runs in Q3 were exceptional and it was great teamwork from Checo to give him the tow like he did, it was worth a tenth or two, but not half a second.

“Max has given it his all and is driving his heart out, he’s thrown everything at it today. Credit has to be given to Checo, he has been a real dutiful team-mate and sacrificed his laps tonight, we can’t ask for more than that.”

Max Verstappen says there are no guarantees the pace he had during Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday will translate into a strong performance on race day, but the Dutchman put himself into prime position for his maiden Drivers’ Championship by taking pole position.

The Red Bull Racing driver benefitted from a well-timed tow from team-mate Sergio Pérez to give him top spot in Qualifying ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton, although his plan to start on the medium tyre disappeared after locking up his tyres on his first run in Q2.

Verstappen will start on the soft tyre, which should give him an advantage off the line but fall away earlier than the medium compound, but he hopes to be able to use the tyres to his advantage to secure his maiden title on Sunday.

“It’s always good to have a performance like this one today, but there are no guarantees for tomorrow, I still expect it to be a really hard battle,” said Verstappen.  “I originally planned to start on the mediums but I flat spotted my tyres so I had to go onto the softs, I actually felt okay on the softs during the long runs so hopefully it will work out tomorrow in the race.

“So far, the car has been good and throughout the practice sessions we made some good improvements to the car. I think everything worked out well, especially with Checo’s help, it was nicely executed. He’s a great team-mate and a real pleasure to work with so a big thank you to him.

Toto Wolff says Red Bull Racing have the advantage after Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team will be looking to come out on top when it matters on Sunday.

Max Verstappen took pole position at the Yas Marina Circuit and will lead the field to the start on Sunday afternoon, while Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will line-up second and sixth respectively for Mercedes.

Wolff, the Team Principal of Mercedes, says they will be doing their homework overnight to ensure they give Hamilton the best chance of taking his eighth Drivers’ Championship whilst also securing an eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship.

“On days like today, you have to take it like it is, it’s 1-0 to them, they got the tyres in the perfect window in the last run, the tow functioned flawlessly and that’s why they are on pole,” said Wolff.

“I’m happy we’ll be starting on the Medium tyre tomorrow. We will have a slight disadvantage on the start I guess, and the first six or seven laps, but we can go longer, or also go for an aggressive undercut and try to control track position.