Abu Dhabi 2021 in F1: what happened at the finale, the protests and the FIA decisions

How the rivals stood before the finale

Level: before the 22nd and final round of the 2021 season, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had 369.5 points each. Verstappen was ahead in the standings: when points are tied, the number of wins decides, and he had nine to Hamilton’s eight. How this rule works is explained in the points article.

Verstappen took pole and Hamilton started second. The race was 58 laps long, and it was the first on the new layout of the Yas Marina circuit, which was also used in 2022–2025. Other championships decided at the last moment are collected in the article on champions by year.

What happened on the last laps

On lap 53 of 58 Hamilton was leading, with Verstappen second. Then Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barrier, and the safety car was deployed. Before the last lap it was called back into the pit lane, and on the last lap Verstappen overtook Hamilton. The sequence of events below follows the FIA report of 19 March 2022; times are local.

There were eight lapped cars. Five of them — Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel — were allowed to overtake the safety car. The three behind Verstappen — Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher — were not directed to do so.

The recovery of Latifi’s car was slower than anticipated, due in part, according to the FIA, to the car’s brakes having caught fire. At the time of the crash both leaders were on hard tyres: Hamilton had changed tyres once before, Verstappen twice.

The result of the race and the championship

Verstappen won the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2.256 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Carlos Sainz third for Ferrari. On 12 December 2021 Verstappen scored 26 points for the win and the fastest lap, and Hamilton 18 for second place.

Verstappen became the 2021 world champion, the first title of his career, with 395.5 points to Hamilton’s 387.5. The Constructors’ Championship was decided in the same race: Mercedes won it for the eighth year in a row.

Mercedes’ protests and the stewards’ decisions

At 19:01 Mercedes filed two protests, and the stewards dismissed both.

The first protest was under Article 48.8 of the 2021 regulations. Under it, no driver may overtake another car until he passes the line for the first time after the safety car has returned to the pits. Mercedes claimed that Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton before that point. At 22:14 the stewards determined that Verstappen did at one stage, for a very short period of time, move slightly in front of Hamilton, while both cars were accelerating and braking. However, he moved back behind Hamilton and was not in front when the safety car period ended, at the line.

The second protest was under Article 48.12. Under it, after the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE”, “any” cars that have been lapped by the leader are required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car. Once the last lapped car has passed the leader, the safety car returns to the pits at the end of the following lap. Mercedes claimed that both parts of the article had been breached and asked the stewards to amend the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap.

At 23:03 the stewards dismissed this protest too. Their reasoning:

• Article 15.3 allows the Race Director to control the use of the safety car, which, in the stewards’ determination, includes its deployment and withdrawal.
• Article 48.12 may not have been applied fully, in relation to the safety car returning to the pits at the end of the following lap. But Article 48.13 overrides it: once the message “SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP” has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end of that lap.
• Amending the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap would effectively be shortening the race retrospectively, and hence not appropriate.

Was there an appeal

No. At 23:22 Mercedes notified the stewards in writing of their intention to appeal the decision on the second protest. The deadline for lodging the appeal before the FIA International Court of Appeal was 20:22 CET on 16 December 2021. Mercedes did not submit a notification of appeal and, that same day, confirmed publicly that they were withdrawing their appeal.

What the FIA decided after its analysis

On 19 March 2022 the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously endorsed the report on the analysis of the finale. It states that the results of the Grand Prix and the championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed.

The analysis followed a decision of the Council on 15 December 2021 to unanimously support the FIA President’s proposal for a detailed analysis and clarification exercise. Its conclusions were to be made before the beginning of the 2022 season. The main findings of the report:

• The Race Director called the safety car back into the pit lane without it having completed an additional lap as required by Article 48.12.
• There could be different interpretations of Articles 48.12 and 48.13, and this likely contributed to the applied procedure.
• The decisions regarding the safety car likely took into account previous discussions. These made clear the preference of the FIA, Formula 1, teams and drivers to end races under green flag racing conditions, rather than behind a safety car, when safe to do so.
• The Race Director was acting in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances, particularly the significant time constraints for decisions to be made.
• The process of identifying lapped cars had been a manual one, and human error led to not all lapped cars being allowed to un-lap themselves by passing the leader and the safety car.
• The stewards dismissed the protest, Mercedes did not appeal, and there are no other available mechanisms in the rules for amending the race classification.

What changed after Abu Dhabi 2021

On 17 February 2022 the FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, announced a plan for a new step forward in Formula 1 refereeing. It was unanimously supported by the F1 CEO and the team principals, and the members of the World Motor Sport Council and the FIA Senate gave it their full support. The plan:

1. Create a Virtual Race Control Room, an FIA backup outside the circuit, like VAR in football. In real-time connection with the Race Director, it would help to apply the Sporting Regulations.
2. Remove direct radio communications with the Race Director during the race, which were then broadcast live on TV. Questions could still be put to the Race Director according to a well-defined process.
3. Reassess the unlapping procedures behind the safety car before the start of the season.
4. Put a new race management team in place from the test session in Barcelona: Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas to act alternately as Race Director, with Herbie Blash as permanent senior advisor. Michael Masi, Race Director since 2019, to be offered a new position within the FIA.

By 19 March 2022 the first phase of the Remote Operations Centre, previously referred to as Virtual Race Control, was online at the FIA headquarters in Geneva. It operates in an advisory capacity: it does not have any regulatory power and cannot be used to reassess or alter past decisions. From the 2022 season, software communicates the list of cars that must un-lap themselves by passing the safety car.

The rule on lapped cars was rewritten. In March 2022 the World Motor Sport Council approved the change via e-vote. The 2022 regulations say “all” instead of “any”: all lapped cars are required to pass the safety car. Once the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” has been sent, the safety car returns to the pits at the end of the following lap. The 2026 regulations keep the same rule. How the safety car works under it, and when lapped cars are allowed to overtake, is covered in the safety car article.