Going into the final race – 25 points for a win – Norris was on 408, Verstappen on 396, and Piastri on 392 points. Norris needed a podium finish to win the championship. If Verstappen wins and Norris finishes fourth or worse, the Dutch driver will claim his fifth championship. Piastri, the longtime title leader, had the hardest task – nothing short of a win, and some bad luck for the other two.
Sometimes, orange cars have made their lives more difficult than necessary.
Credit: Jakub Porzycki/Nurfoto via Getty Images
Qualifying went Verstappen’s way, with Norris a few hundredths of a second faster than Piastri for second and third. Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and George Russell’s Mercedes could have complicated things by inserting themselves between our three heroes, but failed.
big day
As race day arrived, Verstappen made a good start, defended his position, then put his head down and drove to the checkered flag. The Yas Marina Circuit, reportedly the most expensive race track ever built, had some corners reworked in 2021 to improve racing, so the “slow down your opponent and get them back into the chasing pack” game that Lewis Hamilton tried to play with Nico Rosberg in 2016 no longer works.
Piastri chased Verstappen, who saw his chance to pass Norris on Lap 1 and took it. For his part, Norris let it go, then gave his team cause for panic by letting Leclerc’s Ferrari close to within a second before showing more pace. Early pit stops meant that Norris had to do some overtaking on the track. What he did decisively was a far cry from the more timid driver we saw several times earlier this year.
With eight wins this year, Verstappen has been in amazing form. Which makes Norris’ accomplishment even more impressive.
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Verstappen’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was in one of the cars he had to pass. Promoted from the Junior Racing Bulls team after only two races this season, Tsunoda faced a typically difficult time as Red Bull’s second driver, and Abu Dhabi was his last race for the team after finishing less than a tenth behind Verstappen. Tsunoda tried to catch Norris and raced him to the far side of the track but received a five-second penalty for changing direction in the process.
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