F1 TITLE RACE SET FOR GRANDSTAND FINISH IN ABU DHABI

JUST ONE POINT SEPARATES NORRIS AND PIASTRI AND WITH VERSTAPPEN NOT FAR BEHIND, EXPECT FIREWORKS AT YAS MARINA CIRCUIT ON DECEMBER 7

- BY JAYDIP SENGUPTA Pages Editor

Matching Formula 1 this season, one can’t help but get a feeling of déja vu.

The mind inevitably races back to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Fl calendar’s dramatic last chapter from that year, one that heralded Max Verstappen’s arrival on the big stage, as the Dutchman went on to beat seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton — driving a Mercedes back in those days — in controversial circumstances to win the first of his four World Championships.

This year again, the Drivers’ Championship is going down to the wire and heading for a grandstand finish at the Yas Marina Circuit with the McLaren duo, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, till recently battling each other and the Papaya rules — read that as team orders to supposedly keep things fair between the two drivers — now having to fend off a resurgent Verstappen.