Max Verstappen seized his first Formula 1 world championship on the final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He passed Lewis Hamilton at Turn 5 after a late Safety Car restart, ending a season-long duel in a single hard sprint to the flag.
One-lap sprint at Yas Marina
Hamilton led from the start and built a gap of 17 seconds after a Virtual Safety Car. Verstappen, on older tyres, needed roughly eight-tenths per lap to close it, and the chase looked hopeless. Then Nicholas Latifi crashed at Turn 14 with five laps remaining, and the Safety Car froze the field.
Verstappen pitted immediately for fresh soft tyres. Hamilton stayed out on worn hards, betting that track position would hold. Race control cleared the lapped cars between them, leaving a single green-flag lap to decide the title. At the restart, Verstappen lunged inside at Turn 5 and made the pass stick. Hamilton tried to fight back at Turn 9, but there was nothing he could do. Verstappen won by 2.2 seconds.
First Dutch champion, fourth crown now
Verstappen became the Netherlands’ first Formula 1 world champion. He had entered the sport as its youngest starter at 17, won his first race at 18, and now took the title at 24. Hamilton was denied a record eighth drivers’ crown, though Mercedes still secured an eighth straight constructors’ championship that evening.
“All the things come back through your mind throughout all the years you spent together, traveling for that goal… and everything comes together in the last lap. Insane,” Verstappen told reporters afterwards. He also praised Hamilton as a driver who made it very hard for them all year.
That 2021 breakthrough was not a single peak. Verstappen claimed a second title in 2022 with a then-record 15 wins, a third in 2023 with 19 wins from 22 races, and a fourth consecutive championship in 2024 even as Red Bull’s pace faded. The Yas Marina night lit a run that reshaped a generation.
