Formula One is on the verge of finishing its most exciting season in the turbo-hybrid era. The finale in Abu Dhabi is a highly anticipated match up between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to determine who will win the Driver’s Championship. Both drivers are tied in points (369.5) going into this weekend, this is only the second time in F1’s 71 year history that has happened. The only other time it occurred was in 1974 between Emerson Fittipaldi and Clay Regazzoni.
Lewis Hamilton is riding a hot streak coming into this weekend winning the last three races.
The Yas Marina Circuit has been traditionally deemed a “Red Bull” circuit due to its slow chicanes in Turn 7 and Turn 19 but it has recently undergone alterations to make them faster sweeping corners, which seems to favour Mercedes. It seems as though fate is heavily weighing in Hamilton’s favour to win his record-setting eighth drivers championship surpassing Michael Schumacher. But, in this insane 2021 season, the tracks that have been deemed “Red Bull” or “Mercedes” circuits have yielded a completely different result.
Throughout the season, both Hamilton and Verstappen have come together several times. This weekend’s finale has many F1 fans reminiscing of the 1989 and 1990 seasons where Aryton Senna and Alain Prost collided to decide each of those season’s Drivers Championship. If this same incident were to occur this weekend, Verstappen would win the championship based on the number of wins during the season. The FIA made an announcement prior to the weekend informing drivers, more specifically Verstappen, that championship points will be taken off for “unsportsmanship behaviour”.
F1 fans will be watching the race with bated breath to see who takes home the final championship in the turbo-hybrid era. Will Max Verstappen win his first championship and break the Mercedes era dominance or will Lewis Hamilton complete the clean sweep for Mercedes?
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