2021 - Race 22 Abu Dhabi

[Bagwan]

An epic finale .

Who knew it would be so close ?

My bet's on the bunny .

[F1nKS]

Floz on youtube is making a video chronicling this epic season with Hamilton and Verstappen.

He did the "THE SILVER WAR 2016" between Rosberg and Hamilton. It is a 2 hour documentary on Youtube. He also has a video "Origin of the The Silver War".

He does some great videos on Formula 1.

[Nitrodaze]

Both redbulls had the highest topspeed here, so it seems overtaking them shall be no easy task.

I agree, they have found something that has unlocked their early-season potential. I think they would be able to maintain their high pace. But l think it may be at the expense of higher tyre degradation. It is very possible that they have sacrificed something for higher speed.

[Nitrodaze]

An epic finale .

Who knew it would be so close ?

My bet's on the bunny .

A change of tune Baggie. The Mercedes is no longer pulling the wool over everyone's eyes l see.

[Nitrodaze]

None of the data said that RBR had a chance for pole and if Mercedes was leading after lap 1, RBR had no chance of overtaking. Some excellent strategery by Red Bull to bring some spiciness back.

1. The play to go to soft tires and not to give it away until it was too late for Mercedes.

2. The SergioTOW. Excellent teamwork.

The question now will Hamilton pit Verstappen at the first corner and hope the stewards look the other way because it is "lap 1".

I doubt Hamilton would intentionally swipe Verstappen into the gravel or wall. If it goes wrong he would be handing the title to Verstappen. Seeing how he has driven since Silverstone, he would want to do it cleanly on track. Besides both of them would be watched very closely by the stewards in this race. Any dodgy acts would definitely be met with very stern consequences.

The Sergio Tow did not account for the full advantage that Verstappen produced. I think the car was set up for qualifying and good straight-line speed. How well it would fare in the long stints is yet to be seen. It all comes down to how intelligently Verstappen uses that pace to create a buffer for him to nullify the unavoidable two-stop strategy that Redbull has been boxed into.

With the potential consequential tyre wear of the quali-setup, he would need to find a way to conserve tyre to defend at the closing stages of the race.

It is going to be a fascinating race. Of course, Perez is going to play an important part at some stage. I think Bottas is also going to recover from 6th, hence we may have a battle of the number two drivers at some point of the race.

At some point, both Redbull's are going end up behind their counterparts after their first pitstop. Hence, we would have the situation of a rapid Verstappen catching and trying to pass Hamilton which would be an explosive situation. The same may happen between Perez and Bottas.

[F1nKS]

I doubt Hamilton would intentionally swipe Verstappen into the gravel or wall.

I don't think Hamilton would do a Senna, but if he thinks the door has been left open he might stick his nose in...

At some point, both Redbull's are going end up behind their counterparts after their first pitstop. Hence, we would have the situation of a rapid Verstappen catching and trying to pass Hamilton which would be an explosive situation. The same may happen between Perez and Bottas.

It would be an epic race to finish an epic year if this comes down to the last few laps with either driver defending to the very end.

[airshifter]

Well.... that didn't turn out the way many thought it would.

Interesting roll of the dice by RB, and hard to say if they really wanted to go to the soft tire for race start, or if they played the game really well and took us all by surprise. Either way, it took an absolute blazer by Max to put it on pole, and it appears he would have done so without the tow as well.

Plenty of possibilities how the race strategy might play out, and it looks like there is a strong chance that at least Perez might come into the picture. Hard to say how Lando could impact things, as he stated he's not sure if he wants to get in the mix.... but personally I don't see him yielding easy to Perez, so he will be in there at some point regardless. I think he should just go for it and see if he can get a podium, regardless of how it affects the others.

We could all speculate until the race starts. But I won't myself. We have had a year that the two top drivers have had us guessing all year who will come out on top. It just shows how strong the two of them are compared to their respective team mates. And no matter what, history will be made Sunday when we either have the first 8 time WDC, or add another new WDC, with the results of the final race of this part of the turbo hybrid era being the deciding factor. It would be hard to ask for much more unless the WCC was still a tighter race.


At this point I think Merc and Lewis have the upper hand most likely. But that could easily sway in towards Max and RB with safety car issues, and they might have the outright pace to make it work. But either way, it's been a great year to watch the fight at the front.

[Warriwa]

Race control have already given Max the exact hold time of the lights. I'll wager he'll lead into the first corner. My pulse is already up and the race is still hours away. Keep it clean please Max.

[Zico]

Race control have already given Max the exact hold time of the lights. I'll wager he'll lead into the first corner. My pulse is already up and the race is still hours away. Keep it clean please Max.

Source? Lol. He's on pole, on softs so I don't think he will need the light timings.

With a different and better tyre strategy Lewis didn't need pole, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if he actually opted for 2nd place in qualy rather than have Max on softs attacking him at the first corner.. and the danger that comes with that. Could be more of a wise move than a mediocre Q3 pace (by his standards).

Lewis/Merc can win this by strategy alone.. and I think they will.

[Nitrodaze]

If l had my way, l would give both of them joint champions of the 2021 season. But it doesn't work that way. Somebody has to win and there would be a loser. It now comes down to the drivers, pit crew and strategists on the pit wall and the car of course. Any of these components would bring about victory or not. It only takes the weakest link.

Whatever the case, IT IS TIME TO RUMBLE!!!