Every Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner, measured: eleven poles in a row converted, and five titles decided
Seventeen Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have been held at Yas Marina since 2009. Pole has won the last eleven in a row. Five world titles were decided there, from Vettel's first in 2010 to Norris's by two points in 2025. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
Every Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2015 has been won from pole. That is eleven in a row.
Yas Marina is the most predictable race on the calendar in one way and the most dramatic in another. Seventeen races have been held there since 2009, and twelve were won from pole. Yet five world championships were settled on the same afternoon, including the most disputed finish in recent memory in 2021 and Lando Norris's title by two points in 2025. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have won there five times each. The 2026 season ends there on Sunday 6 December.
Every radio message from the recent races is in our Abu Dhabi Grand Prix radio archive, with the audio and a transcript coloured by who is speaking. The 2021 finale, below, is all here.
Every winner
Year
Winner
Team
Started
Pole
2009
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull
2nd
Hamilton
2010
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull
Pole
Vettel
2011
Lewis Hamilton
McLaren
2nd
Vettel
2012
Kimi Raikkonen
Lotus
4th
Hamilton
2013
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull
2nd
Webber
2014
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
2nd
Rosberg
2015
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
Pole
Rosberg
2016
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
Pole
Hamilton
2017
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
Pole
Bottas
2018
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
Pole
Hamilton
2019
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
Pole
Hamilton
2020
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2021
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2022
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2023
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2024
Lando Norris
From official timing.
The numbers
12 of 17 races won from pole, and the last 11 in a row, 2015 to 2025.
Most wins: Hamilton 5 (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) and Verstappen 5 (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025). Vettel has 3.
Lowest winning grid slot: 4th, Raikkonen in 2012.
Biggest podium climbs: Vettel, 24th to 3rd in 2012 from the pit lane, and Charles Leclerc, 19th to 3rd in 2024.
5 world titles decided here: Vettel 2010, Hamilton 2014, Rosberg 2016, Verstappen 2021, Norris 2025.
A full safety car in 3 of the 8 races since 2018: 2018, 2020 and 2021.
Every car finished in 2023 and 2025.
The safety cars
Year
Safety cars
Virtual safety cars
2018
1
1
2019
0
0
2020
1
1
2021
1
1
2022
0
0
2023
0
0
2024
0
1
2025
0
0
Deployments counted from race control messages, which exist from 2018.
Yas Marina is a purpose-built circuit with wide run-off, which keeps safety cars rare. It was rebuilt for 2021: the chicane at the old turns 5 to 7 became a hairpin, and the slow sequence at turns 11 to 13 became one banked sweep. Since then it has produced more on-track position changes per lap than Monza, and yet the pole sitter has won every race. The overtaking happens behind the leader. How the layout changed, and our measurements of it, are in Yas Marina explained.
2021: the last lap
Hamilton led Verstappen, level on points, for most of the 2021 finale. Five laps from the end, Nicholas Latifi crashed and the safety car came out. Verstappen pitted for fresh soft tyres. The race director allowed only the lapped cars between the two leaders to unlap themselves, and the race restarted for a single lap. Verstappen passed Hamilton at turn 5 and won the race and the title. His engineer:
"Max Verstappen! You are the world champion! The world champion!" And Verstappen, a minute later:
"It is unbelievable guys. Can we do this for another 10-15 years together?" Mercedes protested the result and lost. Michael Masi was replaced as race director before the next season.
2025: won the race, lost the title
Verstappen won the 2025 finale from pole, his fifth Abu Dhabi win. It was not enough: Lando Norris finished third and took the championship by two points, 423 to 421, McLaren's first drivers' title since 2008. Red Bull's message to Verstappen:
"Max, you have given everything. You can be proud of that, mate. Hold your head up high." Norris's championship defence in 2026 is measured in Lando Norris's 2026, and Verstappen's in Max Verstappen's 2026.
2012: "Leave me alone"
Kimi Raikkonen won from fourth for Lotus in 2012, his first win since returning to Formula 1, and gave the race its most famous radio line when he told his engineer to leave him alone because he knew what he was doing. Vettel started from the pit lane after a fuel irregularity in qualifying and finished third.
Winners, grid positions, poles and finishers come from Formula 1's official timing data via FastF1, and reflect the final classification.
Safety cars and virtual safety cars are counted from race control messages, which are available from 2018 only. The 2012 radio line predates our archive and is quoted as widely reported.
Quotes from our archive are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree.
Frequently asked questions
Who has won the most Abu Dhabi Grands Prix?
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with five each. Sebastian Vettel has three.
Who won the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
Max Verstappen, from pole. Lando Norris finished third and won the 2025 world championship by two points.
How often does pole win in Abu Dhabi?
Twelve times in seventeen races, including every race from 2015 to 2025.
What happened at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
A late safety car bunched the field, only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were allowed through, and Verstappen passed Hamilton on the one-lap restart to win the title.
Sources
Winners, grid positions, poles, finishers and race control messages from 2018: Formula 1 timing data via FastF1
Every radio message quoted from 2018 onward: our own team radio archive
Follow the finale live
When a title comes down to the last lap, the race director's messages and the radio tell you what is happening before anyone else does.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as it is published. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta, with flag and safety car alerts.
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Nineteen Chinese Grands Prix have been held in Shanghai since 2004. Lewis Hamilton won six, pole won twelve, and in 2026 Kimi Antonelli took the first win of his career there, at 19, with Hamilton on the podium for Ferrari for the first time. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
Max VerstappenRed Bull · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 · Race · 18:32:23 local
EngineerMax, you have given everything. You can be proud of that, mate. Hold your head up high. We showed that one final time in this class.
DriverCongrats, guys. When we come back in the second half of this season, we can be really, really proud of that. So don't be too disappointed. I'm definitely not disappointed. I'm really proud of everyone. We never give up.
Max VerstappenRed Bull · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 · Race · 14:35:18 local
EngineerMax Verstappen! You are the world champion! The world champion! Mate, you absolutely deserve it! You absolutely deserve it! You've had no luck! Not the rubber, the green! Recharge on please, recharge on! Max, we are so proud of you! Oh my god guys! I love you so much! You have driven like a champion all year, you deserve that! We needed a bit of luck, you got it, you made it happen and we love you! We absolutely f***ing love you!
