Just like during the season; In this race, we witnessed a great rivalry from start to finish. Max Verstappen was the winner at the end of the race; With this result, Max Verstappen became the champion of the year again. Let’s talk about the details of Yas Marina Gp together.
II of the qualifying rounds that took place yesterday. Red Bull switched to soft tyres, due to Max Verstappen’s burn-in in the 1st session (Q2). For this reason, Verstappen, who started the race from the first row, started with soft tire selection. The grid order of the race consisted of Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Perez, Sainz and Bottas; Haas driver Nikita Mazepin was unable to participate in the race due to a positive PCR test. Haas joined Yas Marina with a single driver, as he had not participated in any previous session with his reserve driver, replacing Mazepin.
Starting Moment: Hamilton got great traction
At takeoff, Lewis Hamilton had better traction than Max Verstappen, who used soft tires with medium dough, and passed Verstappen and took the lead in the first seconds. On the next serious corner, Verstappen braked late and took his place briefly back from Hamilton, but Hamilton went off the track and was back in first place.
Although Red Bull has discussed the matter with Michael Masi and the FIA for a long time, the decision has not changed and Hamilton has not been given any penalty or order to give him a place to stay.
The standings are Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez and Norris; Bottas dropped to 8th place.
Lap 9: Verstappen says the rear tires have started to suffer.
Lap 14 – 15: Since Verstappen started this lap on soft tyres, he had to pit early and switched to hard tyres. One lap after this lap, Mercedes also pitted Hamilton and Hamilton switched from medium to hard tyres. After these pits, Perez became the new leader; it is followed by Hamilton, Sainz and Verstappen. By the way, we can say that the difference between Hamilton and Verstappen is 5 seconds. Red Bull want to keep Perez on the track for as long as possible.
18th lap: Verstappen passed after losing 3 laps behind Sainz. The difference between Hamilton and Verstappen is around 9 seconds.
20 – Lap 22: Perez did wonders, Hamilton had a hard time
We watched the transition between Hamilton and Perez 3 times. Meanwhile, Perez from Red Bull was instructed to slow down Hamilton. Verstappen difference, which was 9 seconds before Perez and Hamilton’s rivalry; after this contention it dropped to 1.5 seconds. Perez received rave reviews from both Verstappen and Red Bull. Making a great defense against Hamilton, Perez pitted after giving DRS support to his teammate before completing his mission. The standings are now Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez.
Round 36: The Virtual Security Vehicle has arrived
A virtual safety vehicle (VSC) decision came when Giovinazzi’s car stalled on lap 36. Despite this decision, Mercedes did not pit; Red Bull followed a different strategy, pitting both Verstappen and Perez. With this lap, the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was 20.3 seconds. Can Verstappen maintain his fresh tire advantage until the end of the race?
Round 54: Surprise security car
Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barriers and the safety car decision came. After this decision, the Hamilton – Verstappen difference, which was 12 seconds with the last 5 laps left, also melted. Also, Red Bull pitted both Verstappen and Perez. Soft tires were fitted to both drivers in the pit.
Lap 57: Red Bull withdrew Sergio Perez from the race. Only 1 lap will be made after the safety car is pulled out of the way.
Final Lap: Max Verstappen beat 7-time world champion Hamilton with a clean attack and fresh tires to win his first title. A great celebration is held at Yas Marina. . .
Here are those moments when Max Verstappen won the championship;
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