The 2021 Formula 1 champion was decided on Sunday from the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both entered the race with level points. Although, Verstappen had the advantage due to the counter-back rule. Hamilton had the advantage of having the pole position and tiebreaker of most of the Grand Prix wins.
Max Verstappen won the exhilarating race at the thrilling finale of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the world championship. Red Bull’s Verstappen had to wait to overtake Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton till the final lap to seal his maiden F1 World Championship title on Sunday.
Verstappen took the advantage of Nicholas Latifi crashing in the 54th lap and then overtook Lewis Hamilton, who was on his way to seizing the record-breaking title for the eighth time. As Hamilton was edging closer to the finish line, Nicholas Latifi crashed, and that changed the dimensions of the entire game. Verstappen quickly pitted for fresh tyres in the meantime.
Hamilton with degrading hard tyres witnessed his opponent Verstappen going past him in the final lap of the game. Hamilton tried to get his position back but couldn’t because of the old tyres. Even though Hamilton started well in the second grid after finishing behind Verstappen and grabbing the early lead, Verstappen managed to overtake Hamilton in the final lap.
Verstappen had the support and supervision of some extraordinary teamwork from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez that helped him to stick in the game in a good position.
Max Verstappen won his first Formula 1 World Championship title at the age of 24 years, making him the youngest ever champion. Max Emilian Verstappen was born on 30th September 1997 in Belgium.
His family has had an old relationship with motor vehicles for quite a long time. Jos Verstappen, his father, is a Dutch former Formula One driver. Sophie Kumpen, his mother, has competed in Karting. As Verstappen’s mother is from Belgium, and he resided in Bree, Belgium even though he chose to play under the Dutch flag as he has spent most of his life around Dutch people, and he feels “more Dutch”. “I actually only lived in Belgium to sleep, but during the day I went to the Netherlands and had my friends there too. I was raised as a Dutch person and that’s how I feel,” Verstappen said in 2015.
Verstappen started his Karting career when he was four years of age. At a tender age, he won prestigious championships. He graduated to the Rotax Max Minimax class in 2006 and won the Belgian Championship. In 2007, he won the Dutch Minimax Championship. His formula racing career started in 2013 at the Pembrey Circuit. Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Team after testing a Formula Renault 3.5 car in August 2014. He became the youngest driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, by taking part in the first free practice at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. In 2016, Red Bull announced the replacement of Daniil Kvyat with Max Verstappen from the Spanish Grand Prix.
In 2020 Verstappen signed the contract with Red Bull for his extension to race until the end of the year 2023.
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