What Happened on the Last Lap of the Controversial F1 Finale in Abu Dhabi?

The 2021 Formula One season came down to two drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, and one race. And in the end, the world championship literally came down to the last lap between the Mercedes and Red Bull titans in the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

With both drivers tied in overall points heading into Sunday’s winner-take-all race, Hamilton held a comfortable lead heading into the 53rd lap of the 58-lap race, but a crash by Nicholas Latifi led to a safety car coming out onto the track.

Due to lapped cars, there were five cars between first-place Hamilton and second-place Verstappen, though all of those cars were behind the two race leaders in overall time. Race officials initially decided those lapped cars could not overtake the safety car. Then, in a surprising twist, officials then told the lapped cars they could pass he safety car, putting Verstappen directly behind his rival for a one-lap dash to the finish.

Hamilton, who was still using hard tires (he hadn’t pitted since lap 17), was at a disadvantage after Verstappen switched back to soft tires during the safety car laps. Soft tires, in general, provide better grip to the track but are not as durable as hard tires, which don’t grip as well. So, with one lap to go, Verstappen had an edge, as the soft tires he was using didn’t have to stand the test of more laps.

Red Bull manager Christian Horner asked F1 race director Michael Masi over race radio about the situation: “Why aren’t we getting these cars out of the way? We only need one racing lap.” 

Soon after that exchange, Masi made the decision to let the lapped cars pass the safety car. Mercedes manager Toto Wolff yelled over the race radio to Masi.

Wolff: “You need to reinstate the lap [57] … That’s not right.”

Masi: “Toto, It’s called a motor race, OK?”

Wolff: “Sorry?”

Masi: “We went car racing.”

While Masi technically has jurisdiction to make calls in the moment, Mercedes has lodged two protests over the situation.

According to F1 rules, all lapped cars must pass, which didn’t happen Sunday.

FIA rule 39.12 states: “If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘Lapped cars may now overtake’ has been sent to all teams ... any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car. … Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.”

Essentially, allowing time for all lapped cars to pass the safety car likely could have hampered Verstappen’s position to overtake Hamilton.

According to Autosport, the FIA later dismissed Mercedes's protest about Verstappen overtaking behind the safety car.