Hamilton vs Verstappen for the title in Abu Dhabi, how did we get here?

The 2021 Formula 1 season concludes on Sunday in Abu Dhabi with all still to play for. It's been a thrilling season from start to finish and one that still doesn't have a world drivers or constructors champion (although it’s highly unlikely Red Bull can win the latter).

A season that I’m certain will be particularly memorable, down to the fact that there have been two championship protagonists from start to finish.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team have won the last seven constructors titles in a row, six of them with the Stevenage-born driver as the WC winner.

Max Verstappen's Red Bull outfit also have four titles to their name (2010-13) but have not been able to truly challenge Merc in the hybrid era, leaving a supremely talented driver without a championship. That's what makes this year so special. 

Verstappen and Hamilton come into the race weekend level on points. I repeat level on points. That almost never happens, not since 1974 where Emerson Fittipaldi and Clay Regazzoni were level on points ahead of the last race in the USA.

The sheer amount of points available now makes that even more ridiculous. Max and Lewis are tied at 369.5 points each, whilst the other two both had 55.

It's been the best season of the hybrid era no doubt, from start to finish, there's been a tonne of memorable moments, controversial decisions, and wheel-to-wheel battles. Let's take a look at how we got here.

Red Bull looked to have a much faster package than Mercedes at pre-season testing in Bahrain in mid-March, but the silver arrows went back to the drawing board and came back with a more competitive package at the same track 2 weeks later.

Verstappen still qualified on pole, but Hamilton was able to get ahead in the race by opting for a different strategy. Towards the end of the season opener, we got a taste of exactly what the year would have in store for us.

Max was able to chase down Lewis at the end, and even overtook the race leader with 4 laps to go. He did eventually end up giving the place back as it was deemed to have happened off the track.

As you know that wasn't the only occurrence this season either. Hamilton got the place back and managed to fend off his championship rival for the final few laps to take the checkered flag in Bahrain.

Imola (a wet race) and Portimao followed, with a Mercedes taking pole in each of them. The latter was won by Lewis (after BOT pole), whilst he was the fastest qualifier in the wet, starting on pole, before losing out to Verstappen at turn 1, going over the sausage kerbs and losing bodywork. That was declared as a racing incident.

Lewis came into the pits first of the two for slicks, but was hurt more as he had a slow stop. That wasn't it though as he had no grip going into turn 7 a couple of laps later, and ended up in the gravel trap, damaging his front wing by hitting the wall.

The championship leader managed to reverse out to get away and was helped by the Bottas and Russell incident directly after. A red flag was brought out and he was 8th for the standing restart.

Verstappen was victorious in that one, ahead of Hamilton in P2, an excellent recovery, followed by the victory in Portugal. After three races Lewis was ahead by 8 points.

Hamilton won from pole in Spain, but it wasn't easy. It was a race that was very similar to Hungary 2019, Max ahead at turn 1, caught at the end.

The gap was extended to 14 points ahead of Monaco, which turned out to be a disaster for Lewis. The Dutchman started on pole after the Leclerc gearbox issue, whilst the Brit started P6 after not having pace all weekend.

It's incredibly difficult to overtake in the principality so Hamilton couldn't make ground, finishing P7 after being overcut by Vettel. He did manage to get the fastest lap point though. Verstappen won the race in dominant fashion and re-took the championship lead by 4 points. 

And then Baku happened. Charles Leclerc managed another unexpected pole, ahead of Lewis and then Max in P3. The seven-time world champion got ahead of the Monegasque driver without DRS at the start of lap 3, Verstappen and Perez followed on laps 7 and 8 respectively.

Carlos Sainz brought out yellow flags at the castle section on lap 12, meaning Hamilton could conveniently dive into the pits right away, but another slow stop hampered him, and before you knew it the two Red Bulls were ahead, after stopping over the next two laps.

The tyre blowout chaos began on lap 31 with Stroll's retirement, bringing out a red flag, before yet another one on lap 46. But this time it was Verstappen that had his race ruined.

The first potential big points swing in the championship battle. Or was it? After a few laps behind the safety car, the stewards opted for a standing start on lap 50/51. Hamilton started P2 behind Checo Perez.

You could see something was up on the grid as you could see his car was smoking. It turned out that his brake magic button was accidentally flicked on, causing an instant lock-up into turn 1 and 0 points in a chance to regain the championship lead. Perez won the race ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly. 

France followed and saw Verstappen win from pole, the exact situation as in Spain, but reversed. Whilst he lead the two Austria races from pretty much start to finish creating a 32-point gap ahead of Silverstone.

Round 10 in Great Britain saw the first-ever Saturday sprint qualifying race to set up the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Lewis started P1, Max P2, but Verstappen got the better start into turn 1 and got ahead.

They had a nice little battle down the Wellington Straight and into Brooklands, all the way to Copse where Lewis backed out, trying not to damage their cars ahead of Sunday's race. It’s quite funny when you look back on it.

The Red Bull driver won the sprint, starting P1 on Sunday and getting an extra 3 championship points, Lewis getting 2.

Race day then fell and it was Verstappen leading into turn 1, with a very similar fightback from Lewis up to Copse. But then the incident happened.

You know the one I'm talking about. Hamilton went down the inside of Verstappen at Copse corner, after initially looking to be going around the outside. He was later awarded a 10-second penalty.

Charles Leclerc got ahead of Lewis in the midst of that and lead the Grand Prix for 50/52 laps before being caught by the Mercedes driver at the very same corner.

A 33-point gap at the start of the day became just 8 after the win, another turning point in the season. Hungary and Belgium in the wet came next, with the summer break sandwiched in the middle. 

Mercedes locked out the front row in Budapest, with Number 44 on pole, 33 started right behind them in P3. Bottas got a poor start from P2, with VER, NOR, PER all getting past. The Fin then locked up and collided with the McLaren driver, taking him and the two Red Bull's into the gravel trap.

Verstappen managed to escape but did have damage. There was initially a safety car, which then turned into a red flag.

When the standing restart came, the track had dried up, and everyone bar Hamilton came back into the pits for slicks, meaning the race leader was out on the grid on his own. An error by Mercedes.

As the lights went out, he was there on the intermediate tyres ahead of Russell and Ocon, who emerged from the pit lane on slicks.

Lewis came in at the end of the lap, dropping down to 14th and last position. Max sat 12th.

Hamilton managed to get through the field before meeting Fernando Alonso in a battle for P4. Verstappen on the other hand struggled.

The Alpine driver held Hamilton up for just enough time (until lap 66/70) to ensure his teammate got the win, whilst the pole-sitter got up to P3 in the end, passing Carlos Sainz at the end of the very next lap. Verstappen finished P9, picking up two points, his championship rival earned 15 and took the lead by 6. 

Spa was a mess, with, torrential rain all weekend and very little running. Qualifying was in the wet and just seemed to get worse and worse with Lando Norris having a huge off at Radillon and bringing out a red flag. Shame on the FIA.

We eventually got back underway and it was nearly a surprise pole for George Russell who was the fastest of anyone before Verstappen crushed that hope as the very last car to cross the line.

Hamilton followed him to P3. The race result remained that way too as the conditions were even worse on the Sunday.

It started under the safety car before a red flag was called after 1 lap. Three hours later they went out again to complete 2 more laps which were all that was needed to declare it a race and to give out half points.

That narrowed the gap a little to 3 points. Hamilton at 202.5, Verstappen at 199.5 after 12 rounds.

VER took the lead of the championship the next weekend though, at his very first home race. Neither Mercedes driver showed much, although Lewis did get the fastest lap in a pretty dominant Max win at Zandvoort.

Monza hosted the last of a tripleheader after the summer break. Another sprint race weekend, another collision?

Mercedes had the faster car in the Friday qualifying session. Bottas was fastest, with Lewis just behind. Verstappen would start the sprint race 3rd. Bottas took a new power unit coming into the race, so he would start the Grand Prix from the back of the grid. He could however start the sprint race on pole. And win it he did.

Hamilton lost 4 places at the start and could never recover, Max couldn't get past the Fin. It didn’t really matter anyway as Verstappen would start Sunday's race on pole, followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris, and then Lewis Hamilton in 4th.

The Aussie lead into turn 1, getting a jump on Verstappen. Hamilton did the same to Norris to get into P3. The Brit then decided to try to make a move on Max going into the della roggia chicane, but backed out and lost the position back to Lando.

Verstappen came into the pits after Ricciardo on lap 24 to try and overcut him but was held up by an uncommon slow stop (11 seconds) from the Red Bull pit crew. Hamilton then overtook Norris whilst that was happening, which prompted the McLaren driver to come into the pits.

Norris came out ahead of Verstappen which tempted Lewis to come in too. He however came out behind the papaya car and side by side with his championship rival. We all know how that went.

In case you didn’t Hamilton got ahead into turn 1, so Verstappen tried to go around the outside of him into the first chicane. His Red Bull bounced over the sausage kerb and on top of the Mercedes, taking the two of them out of the race.

That incident saw VER get handed a three-place grid penalty for the next event in Russia.

We then saw a couple of wet race weekends in a row in Russia and Turkey. A wet quali session caused chaos in Sochi. Max Verstappen took a new power unit so started at the back of the grid and didn't take part in the shootout. A golden opportunity for Hamilton to take pole.

As you might expect from the word ‘chaos’, that didn't happen. He was fastest on the intermediate tyres on the first run in Q3, but the track evolved, and when everyone moved to slicks Hamilton span, so couldn't set another lap. Luckily he remained 4th.

Sunday came, it was dry, and saw Norris from Sainz, Russell, and then Lewis Hamilton to start the Grand Prix.

Lewis' weekend got worse as he was in 7th position after the first lap, but that didn't stop him as both he and Verstappen worked their way up the grid.

Hamilton was up to second when the rain hit on lap 47/53 and within DRS range of Lando Norris. 2 laps later neither driver wanted to come in but it was looking likely that it was only getting worse, so Lewis listened to his team and came in for inters whilst Lando opted to stay out, which sadly cost him the race and a tonne of points.

That put the Mercedes driver back in front of Max Verstappen, but only by 2 points because Max managed to pick up a couple more places by pitting for inters before the majority.

On rolled Turkey, where the two Mercedes were faster, but Hamilton took a 10 place penalty for an engine component change. That meant Bottas started and won from pole in a somehow boring wet race. Max was second so reclaimed the championship lead (by 6 points), after Lewis finished in 5th. 

The Championship moved away from Europe to North America for two races. Austin, Texas hosted the first at a circuit that many fans look forward to due to its overtaking opportunities and ability to sustain wheel-to-wheel racing. We got the latter between the two championship contenders.

Verstappen lost out to Hamilton at turn 1 before undercutting him and coming out on top. Lewis went longer on the second stop, which played to his advantage as he managed to chase him down to within DRS range, but it was too late as he only got there on the last lap. Verstappen extended his grip to a 12-point lead as Hamilton got the fastest lap. 

That lead grew larger in Mexico in unexpected circumstances. Mercedes had dominated all weekend up until the race. They had a 1-2 with Valtteri Bottas on pole, ahead of Lewis, and then Max.

The three of them went wheel to wheel on the race start into turn 1, Verstappen won that battle, sweeping around the outside of the two Mercs, before the polesitter was spun around by Ricciardo.

A safety car shortly followed after incidents with Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher, before Verstappen drove into the distance and took the race win. Hamilton was closer to Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull as the race went on, with the reigning champion almost getting caught at the end by the Mexican at his home race.

One more lap, and Lewis could have been P3. The gap widened to 19 points heading into controversy central in Brazil.

Interlagos hosted the final of three experimental sprint weekends, and this one added to the theme of controversy. Man, it was entertaining. Coming into the weekend Hamilton took a 5-place grid penalty for a new ICE, that wasn't the only penalty he'd be getting, however.

It all started on the Friday qualifying session where his car was suspiciously quick. 4 tenths quicker than Verstappen in P2. It turned out that his car opened the DRS flap too wide and therefore gained an advantage, resulting in disqualification from the session and being forced to start the sprint from the back.

Bottas got ahead of Verstappen from P2 at the start of the sprint race, before Max lost another place to Sainz after going wide, he then made a move stick for the position back, on lap 4.

Bottas stayed ahead however securing the three points, Verstappen would've been happy with the 2, had Hamilton not pulled off one of the greatest drives I've seen making up 15 places and finishing the sprint in P5. That meant he'd start the GP on the Sunday in 10th.

Fast forward a day and Verstappen got ahead of Bottas into turn 1 this time, Hamilton was up to 7th, and 5th by lap 3.

He soon caught Bottas, who lost a position to Perez by going wide, and was P4 before we know it, as he let his teammate pass.

The championship challenger got past the Mexican for 2nd on his second attempt on lap 19 and looked like the fastest car on the track by far.

He encountered his rival on lap 48 and looked likely to make a move on Verstappen down into turns 4 and 5, but the race leader pushed him wide, turning the steering wheel late, forcing Lewis to back out.

Surprisingly it was declared a racing incident, but that didn't matter as 11 laps later he was back and this time got ahead just before the spot of their incident, securing the race victory and narrowing the gap to 14 points.

A dominant Hamilton win in Qatar, after a Verstappen penalty for ignoring double waved yellows in Q3 set up an 8-point gap going into last weekend's inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

That 8-point gap was important, and Max was lucky he got the fastest lap in Qatar, otherwise, Lewis would be leading the championship right now. If the Mercedes #44 won the Saudi GP and got the fastest lap, he'd be level on points going into the finale in Abu Dhabi.

The Brit started on pole ahead of his teammate, who was followed by car number 33 in P3 on the grid. The order remained that way into turn 1 and beyond, before the Schumacher crash on lap 10 brought out a safety car.

The Red Bull driver stayed out, hoping for a red flag, whilst the Mercedes pair went into the pits for a cheap stop. Max got his wish 3 laps later, meaning he could change his tyres in the red-flag period and start on pole for the restart.

Hamilton got the better start of the line and lead into turn 1, Bottas locked up and was overtaken by Ocon, but Verstappen remained ahead of everyone after missing turn 2 by forcing himself back onto the track and Lewis wide. That allowed Ocon to jump in front of the Merc and into P2.

Max was punished for his actions and was moved back behind Ocon and Hamilton for the second restart. The latter was squeezed by the Frenchman and Verstappen, falling to P3 after backing out. Hamilton moved past the Alpine on lap 18 and met his championship rival 19 laps later where another incident was written into the history books.

Lewis was gaining on the championship leader on the straight, and looked to be ahead after turn 1, before Verstappen drove straight at the same turn as the previous incident, gaining an unfair advantage and again being forced to give the position back.

Max slowed down to give the position back, accelerated a little bit, then slowed down again whilst Lewis didn't know what was going on, then moved to the right as Hamilton was approaching without knowing at the exact time Verstappen swerved, causing himself to try and swerve to the left.

That last action was a bit too late and resulted in Lewis going right into the back of his championship rival and having a damaged car. Max was forced to give up the position for the third time, before receiving a 5-second penalty, this time with no problem, before taking it back again.

Lewis got and stayed ahead on lap 43/50 winning the race with the damage sustained. Another remarkable and very entertaining race.

That brings us up to date, with all to play for on Sunday's race. Max Verstappen has the advantage of pole position after putting up a stunner of a lap today.

He does however start on the soft tyre after flat-spotting a medium set in Q2. For me, I have a feeling Red Bull have got a genius strategy up their sleeves, so I think Max will win the title.