Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are tied for the season finale of Formula 1. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is perhaps the most exciting finale in the history of the racing series. Follow the decisive Grand Prix here in the live ticker.
1:53 p.m .: All 19 cars have rolled into the starting grid, the mechanics are taking care of the final preparations, putting their things together right away. Then it’s time to warm up for the grand finale of this exciting season. Because despite all the admiration, the Mercedes superiority of the past few years was sometimes boring.
1:45 pm: Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko sees that (see 1:28 p.m.) naturally more relaxed: “As soon as Max’s tire collapses, we’ll just switch.” The opinionated Austrian also has to admit that it “would have been better if we had had a choice”. However, Verstappen had braked himself on the only fresh yellow set of tires in qualifying and thus made it unusable.
1:37 pm: Incidentally, race director Michael Masi has already warned the drivers not to come up with stupid ideas in the first place. In the notes before the weekend, when the driver otherwise pointed out special features, this time it was explicitly about the consequences for intentionally caused collisions. This immediately brought back memories of Michael Schumacher, who was subsequently completely deleted from the drivers’ standings after his ramming at the World Cup final against Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
1:31 pm: Sebastian Vettel is also about to win an award today, and the poor starting position 15 can even be helpful. The Aston Martin driver leads this season’s new ranking for most overtaking maneuvers. Vettel comes to 127, the closest pursuer is Fernando Alonso with 125. Also in third place is a veteran, namely Kimi Räikkönen with 121. The 41-year-old Finn ends his career with today’s race. His 349th race start is a record in Formula 1.
1:28 pm: Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff sees his driver at an advantage despite second place on the grid. Because Verstappen has to drive off with the red soft tire, while Hamilton starts on the yellow medium. The softer tire brings better traction when the traffic lights go out, but it also degrades more quickly afterwards. Wolff is counting on Hamilton to keep up despite the harder tires and then benefit from the fact that Verstappen has to stop earlier. Whatever the risk of getting stuck in traffic further back in the field.
1:22 pm: Nikita Mazepin will not be there today. The Haas driver tested positive for the corona virus in the morning, as his racing team announced. However, substitute driver Pietro Fittipaldi is not allowed to use because he did not do any of the training sessions. Mick Schumacher’s starting position 19 is for once the last in the field.
1:15 p.m .: Such a crucial starting accident would not be a premiere in Formula 1. In the 1990 season, Ayrton Senna (McLaren) and Alain Prost (Ferrari) collided in the first corner of the Japanese Grand Prix because Senna gave in uncompromisingly. Both were eliminated, making Senna world champion. A year earlier it was exactly the other way around: Prost uncompromisingly turned against Senna, both cars came to a halt in the run-off zone. Because Senna allowed the marshals to push her on his return, he was disqualified at the end of the race – and Prost cheered for the title.
1:07 pm: The horror scenario at Mercedes is likely to be a start-up accident. “It makes no difference to him if we both don’t finish,” said Hamilton after the collision with Verstappen at the previous race in Saudi Arabia when the Dutchman let him up. Hamilton won despite a damaged front wing, but also knows that the moment he retires today, Verstappen is world champion.
1:03 pm: In yesterday’s qualifying, Verstappen surprisingly prevailed and secured the 13th pole position of his career. Hamilton, who was rated more strongly after the impressions of the free practice sessions, “only” finished second – and is therefore going into the season finale a few meters behind.
1:00 p.m .: Welcome to the live ticker for what is perhaps the most exciting decision in the 71-year history of Formula 1. In an hour, the lights will go out at the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi. Then it will be decided whether Max Verstappen will be world champion for the first time – or he will be intercepted in the last race by Lewis Hamilton, who would crown himself the sole record champion with his eighth title.
The initial situation: Before the last race of the Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are tied at 369.5 points. Half of the points come from the Belgian Grand Prix, which was canceled after three laps behind the safety car due to persistent rain. Red Bull driver Verstappen is leading because he has nine wins this season, Hamilton eight. If both World Cup rivals land outside of the points or are eliminated in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen is world champion. Of course, this also applies in the event that only Hamilton’s Mercedes does not make it to the finish line. His mission is clear: for the eighth title he has to see the black and white checkered flag before Verstappen and get at least one point more.