Formula 1: 5 things at stake in the 2021 season finale

3. Battle of the wingmen: Sergio Perez vs. Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez have been the supporting acts in the tightly contested driver championship battle. While Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been going all-out, Perez and Bottas have been driving strategically, giving tows to their teammates and giving their teams different pit stop strategies with which to play.

Bottas currently sits P3 in the driver standings with 218 points while Perez sits P4 with 190. It’s impossible for Perez to jump Bottas during the finale even if the Mexican wins and Bottas finishes outside the points. But the battle of the wingmen still carries a lot of importance.

Both the wingmen can act as a shield, protecting their team’s title protagonist or providing a different strategy for their team to negate the threat of a potential undercut or overcut. They could still play a big role in the title race even though they do not have much to fight for among themselves.

For Bottas, his five-year association with Mercedes is coming to an end after this weekend, as George Russell is gearing up to replace him next year. The Finnish driver will be moving to Alfa Romeo, replacing the retiring Kimi Raikkonen.

For Perez, over the course of the season, he has given Red Bull what they have lacked after parting ways with Daniel Ricciardo: a reliable and consistent second driver capable of taking big chunks of points off their rivals. Bottas and Perez will have their own little showdown in Abu Dhabi.