DIRECT. F1: Sergio Perez in the lead after Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen pitstops at the Gran – franceinfo

This is the Grand Prix of the Century. At the end of a stifling season of suspense and twists, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will face each other in a final battle that promises to be epic at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

After the mad race in Jeddah, the two pilots are ready to do battle. Max Verstappen is on the hunt for his first world title, while Lewis Hamilton could be crowned for the eighth time, overtaking Michael Schumacher alone.

The same number of points, but an advantage for Max Verstappen

On paper, the equation is simple: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have the same number of points (369.5). Whoever finishes ahead of the other in Abu Dhabi is therefore crowned world champion. But with one more victory so far over his rival (9 against 8), the Dutchman can be crowned by finishing behind the Briton. This would be the case if he ends up 10th place, and obtains the point of the best lap in the race, while Lewis Hamilton finishes 9th. On the other hand, if Hamilton finishes ahead of his opponent in one of the first 8 places, he will be crowned. Ditto if he finishes 9th and Verstappen does not have the fastest lap in the race, which earns one more point. If neither of them scores a point, the Red Bull driver will be crowned.

The Abu Dhabi circuit (generally) smiles at Mercedes

For the 13th race on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the results are tilted in favor of Mercedes. The Silver Arrows have indeed won all the victories between 2014 and 2019, including four times with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel (also winner once with McLaren-Mercedes in 2011). But last year, Max Verstappen won with Red Bull.

Mercedes well on track for a new constructors’ crown

With 28 points ahead of Red Bull, the German firm has a relatively comfortable mattress to hope to seek an eighth consecutive crown, which would be a record in the history of this discipline. Concretely, there remain 44 points to distribute between teams for this last race and the firm with the star only needs 17 units to capture the title constructors.