The greatest Formula 1 title showdowns - part four

In 2017 the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will once again play host to the season finale, where we could get our first head-to-head battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel for the crown.

But with the 2017 story still to run its course before the teams and drivers head to Yas Marina Circuit on November 26, we've been looking back at the most spectacular final-round title deciders in F1's history with our now-completed countdown:

1) 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton v Felipe Massa

It's impossible to look beyond a world championship that changed hands at the end of the final lap, when Lewis Hamilton's pass on Timo Glock robbed Felipe Massa of an emotional crowning moment on home soil.

Massa was sublime through a chaotic race, leading 64 out of 71 laps, and only sacrificing that position during pitstop sequences. Hamilton's race was less straightforward.

With McLaren having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the end of the 2007 season, the changeable conditions at Interlagos in 2008 made for a race where an overly cautious approach was going to achieve very little.

Hamilton never ran higher than third (and even that was only for four laps), spending the bulk of his time stuck in fourth or fifth position, both of which would be good enough for the title even if Massa won the race.

With eight laps to go - and Hamilton in fourth - the rain returned, and three laps later Hamilton came in again for intermediates with the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel harassing him.

Crucially, Toyota left its cars out on slicks, vaulting Glock ahead of the Hamilton/Vettel scrap. When the lapped car of Robert Kubica forced his way past, Hamilton slid wide at the bottom of the hill with just over two laps to go, and McLaren hearts sunk as Vettel demoted him to a world championship-losing position of sixth on the road. The Ferrari garage could barely contain itself.

At this point, Glock was 15 seconds up the road, still setting a strong enough pace on his dry-weather tyres. Hamilton, it seemed, needed a miracle, and at the beginning of the final lap he was just 0.8s behind Vettel, and had only made up two seconds on Glock.

While what happened next probably wasn't a miracle, it did come from the sky - the rain picked up, and Glock's pace plummeted. 17 seconds before crossing the finish line Hamilton passed the crawling Toyota, recapturing the crucial fifth place he needed to win his first world title, breaking Brazilian hearts as he did it.

Massa had won the race 38 seconds before Hamilton crossed the line, waiting for confirmation on his slowing down lap of Hamilton's position and if he had indeed become Brazil's first world champion since Ayrton Senna.

"Just before I got to him they said you have to get past Glock, so I was trying my hardest to get to Vettel but he was just as quick as me, if not a little bit quicker," said Hamilton. "It was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest."

While anarchy surrounded Hamilton in the pitlane, Massa fought back the tears on the podium. F1 has never had anything else like it.

2) 1997 European Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher v Jacques Villeneuve

"If it had been in a movie, the audience would have groaned at the corniness of it all," mused Autosport's Andrew Benson, "but then 1997 has been a bit like that."

It was a season apart. Adam Cooper called it "unarguably the closest and most open for many a year".

The title fight was Jacques Villeneuve in the standard-bearing Williams against Michael Schumacher in the recovering Ferrari. Yet even that was odd - they were together on track scarcely; they never once shared a podium. The title picture had extraordinary ebb and flow.

Villeneuve seemingly had it in the bag late on, but in Japan's penultimate round Schumacher won and Villeneuve was disqualified, having raced under appeal after triggering a suspended ban during practice. They entered the finale - at incongruous Jerez - with Schumacher a point ahead.

The year hit its crescendo in qualifying when Villeneuve, Schumacher and Villeneuve's team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen set exactly the same best time, separated only by the mentioned order they set it in.

The two contenders finally had a head-to-head from the front row. Schumacher leapt past Villeneuve off the line, and swiftly was four seconds clear.

Frentzen ran long before his first stop, and backed the pitted Schumacher into Villeneuve. But soon afterwards backmarker Norberto Fontana of Sauber (using Ferrari engines) did similar to Villeneuve. The gap was three seconds again.

Both made their final halts, emerged in the same order, and most thought that was that. Not so.

Villeneuve was soon all over the Ferrari, aimed down the inside of Dry Sack hairpin, and in Nigel Roebuck's words "had him clean". Or he would have, had Schumacher not driven into the side of him. But, as Roebuck said, "it was the biter who got bitten", beached in the gravel.

Villeneuve was hobbled but continued, needing sixth to be champion. He got third.

"Yes it was a big risk," Villeneuve noted. "I knew Michael was capable of taking me out, but there was no point in just being second. It was better to try. Now I just feel wonderful."

3) 1986 Australian Grand Prix

Nigel Mansell v Alain Prost v Nelson Piquet

"There has probably never been a world championship showdown as dramatic as this," concluded Nigel Roebuck in Autosport's report. And it remains for many the ultimate. Adelaide, Nigel Mansell and exploding tyres all have entered folklore.

In 1986 Williams Honda shot to dominance; Mansellmania did similar. Come the final round he needed only third place, and only if team-mate Nelson Piquet or McLaren's Alain Prost won. Prost's slim chance was preserved mainly by driving brilliance.

Mansell took pole, but in the race appeared content to hang back. First Piquet led, then the astonishing Keke Rosberg passed and scampered clear, in his final race and with a McLaren for about the only time that year handling to his taste. "He was," in Roebuck's words, "paralysing them".

This was good news for his team-mate Prost, even more so as he climbed to second (helped by Piquet spinning). But just before halfway he appeared shot when he toured into the pits to replace a flat tyre.

From then it was atypical Prost; running fourth he went for abandon and closed quickly on the Williams pair. Before three-quarters distance the three protagonists were in formation - "who scripted this thing?," asked an incredulous Roebuck.

But within minutes everything changed; again all about tyres. Leader Rosberg's right-rear flailed and he parked, thinking the noise was a broken engine. This left Mansell set fair, but then... the famous tyre disintegration and shower of sparks (pictured above).

He wrestled his Williams away from the walls, but his race and championship were done. Ironically it was examining Prost's discarded set that convinced Goodyear that non-stop runs were possible.

Williams, spooked, pitted Piquet for new rubber, leaving Prost in the lead he needed. It didn't look like Piquet would catch up with him, but his earlier abandon might. Had his fuel read-out been correct he'd have run out before the end. This time it was wrong.

He crossed the line first, in disbelief. Even now it's possibly the last time the title was won in a car that was so clearly not the best on the grid.

4) 1964 Mexican Grand Prix

Graham Hill v John Surtees v Jim Clark

A three-way title fight not decided until the final lap after an incredible turn of events has to make anyone's list of great championship showdowns.

Arriving in Mexico for the 10th and final round of the 1964 campaign, Graham Hill led on 39 points, John Surtees was second on 34 and reigning champion Jim Clark was on 30.

Clark's Lotus had dominated the early part of the season before hitting reliability problems, while Ferrari man Surtees had experienced the opposite. Hill had been consistent for BRM.

Clark comfortably took pole, with Surtees struggling into fourth with engine issues, and the Lotus cleared off from the start. Surtees' engine was still playing up as he left the line and he fell into the midfield.

But Surtees held his nerve and, once hot, the eight-cylinder engine started to work. He began his charge through the field.

Surtees soon caught the fight for third between his team-mate Lorenzo Bandini and Hill, which was getting ever-more fraught. Eventually they clashed, leaving 1962 world champion Hill out of contention.

But Clark was still well out in front, chased by Dan Gurney's Brabham, with Bandini and Surtees next. That would be enough to allow Clark to retain his crown.

Then an oil line broke on the Lotus. Gurney swept into the lead on the penultimate lap as Clark slumped to fifth. Bandini moved aside for his team leader, allowing Surtees to finish second - and take the title by a single point.

"The 158 suffered quite a bit from being late and not having quite as much dedication into the package as we would have liked," said Surtees in 2014.

"I had some good fortune that Jim had that problem, but I think that balanced it up!"

His determination in the face of problems, both in the race and earlier in the season, had been rewarded in a remarkable finale.

5) 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg v Lewis Hamilton

Nothing should be ruled out in a title finale. Yet this one has surely a unique facet - one of its protagonists sought to prevail by driving slowly. The year was a Mercedes walkover, yet in a minor variation Nico Rosberg led for most of it, aided by technical failures and off days (or should that be off starts?) for his three-time champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

With four rounds left Hamilton needed snookers. He won the next three, but Rosberg did all he needed by following him home. In Abu Dhabi for the final round Rosberg's task was even simpler: third was enough.

Hamilton took pole, but Rosberg's second place was comfortable, a whole half-second clear of Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull in third. All he needed.

Yet in the race Hamilton's game became clear - as leader he was 'backing up' second-placed Rosberg, often to the tune of two seconds a lap, hoping others could vault him.

A snake formed behind the Mercedes. It wasn't thrilling, but it was tense. The radio calls to Hamilton escalated; eventually technical head Paddy Lowe issued an urgent proscription. Hamilton was unflinching.

But no-one did him his favour. The Red Bulls were close but, on older tyres, unable to strike. Then the resurgent Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who'd stretched out his strategy, attacked late on new rubber, and hounded Rosberg in the final four laps. But Rosberg repelled him. He finished second, more than required for the crown.

Hamilton's actions, typically, divided opinion but given the circumstances, as Autosport's Grand Prix Editor Ben Anderson explained, "no-one can blame Hamilton for doing what he did".

Ultimately it allowed the new champion to shine too. "Rosberg showed a champion's resilience to cling on with everything at stake," Anderson concluded. Indeed he even threw in an aggressive overtake of Max Verstappen, that his team called "critical" for his title.

Something even more surprising followed a few days later. Having reached the mountain peak Rosberg announced he was walking from F1 with immediate effect.

6) 1994 Australian Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher v Damon Hill

Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill arrived at the 1994 season finale in Adelaide separated by one point in the German's favour, and momentum on the Briton's side after winning the previous round in Japan with a performance that he still ranks as the best in his career.

The journey to Australia over the previous 15 rounds was one of the most tumultuous in F1's history, from the death of Hill's legendary team-mate Ayrton Senna at Imola to Schumacher and Benetton picking up black flags, disqualifications and race bans, which helped Hill and Williams back into contention from a mid-season deficit of 37 points (under the old system of 10 for a win).

All eyes were on Schumacher and Hill, but they were outqualified by Williams stand-in Nigel Mansell, who claims he deliberately made a poor start to keep out of the way of the showdown.

Schumacher and Hill raced nose-to-tail, almost colliding in traffic at one point, before on lap 36 the Benetton clouted the wall at Turn 5, just out of sight of Hill. Crucially, that meant Hill was not to know that Schumacher's car was terminally damaged, so he sensed an opportunity to snatch the lead from the limping race leader.

But Schumacher turned in on the Williams at the next corner, tipping his car briefly onto its side before it careered into the tyre wall and out of the race. The big question was if Hill could continue to score the two points he needed to grab the title.

Hill dragged his FW16 back to the pits, where inspection of the front suspension by Patrick Head, and a rather crude attempt to bend it back into position by hand, confirmed he too was out of the race. Behind the barriers trackside, word reached Schumacher, who could not contain his joy at becoming world champion for the first time.

"I didn't believe that he did it on purpose," Schumacher's then-race engineer Pat Symonds told Autosport in 2014. "I know the steering was broken, I could see the data, and I didn't think that he had control of the car.

"I guess after '97 with Villeneuve, and then Monaco 2006, I wondered about '94. There were times when Michael's judgement was not very good."

7) 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso v Mark Webber v Sebastian Vettel v Lewis Hamilton

A title finale like no other. It had four drivers in contention - a record. Unusually, neither of its two chief protagonists triumphed. They boxed each other into a corner; the eventual champion leapt from a distant third. While, conversely, the era's absurdity was underlined.

Arriving in Abu Dhabi Ferrari's Fernando Alonso led Red Bull's Mark Webber by eight points. That year Red Bull had been mainly quickest, but wasteful. Alonso's late run got him ahead. The chances of Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel, 15 back, seemed purely mathematical. In qualifying things got better for the Spanish double champion as Webber started fifth to his third. Poleman Vettel looked untouchable; McLaren strong. Yet with Webber behind, fourth would be enough.

A lap-one safety car tilted matters. The medium tyre could run interminably so many midfielders made then their solitary stop, including Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and Vitaly Petrov's Renault.

Webber pitted on lap 11. Ferrari, spooked by Webber's speed and reckoning the supersofts were about to 'fall off', brought Alonso in on lap 15. He remained ahead of Webber, but fell behind Rosberg and Petrov, and needed to clear both on track to be champion.

But this version of F1 did not allow it. Alonso sat in Petrov's trails for the remaining 40 laps, neither passing nor having the possibility to. He finished seventh, one spot ahead of Webber.

Vettel stayed out, led and won - becoming the sport's youngest champion. "When I crossed the line," Vettel said, "I did not know if it was enough or not. To be on that list with drivers like Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher..."

The emotion came not just from Vettel. There was, typical, Ferrari recrimination. "We did not take into consideration the difficulty of passing cars on track," said team principal Stefano Domenicali with sangfroid.

Moreover it was a watershed. This was the first time Vettel had led the world championship ever, let alone that season. It heralded his four titles in a row. Alonso's title number three remains unclaimed.

8) 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

Carlos Reutemann v Nelson Piquet v Jacques Laffite

Not the most thrilling finale, but possibly the strangest.

It was apt for a strange year. One that started with people thinking there wouldn't be F1 as we knew it.

Once the season did get underway cars mostly ran in flagrant breach of the rules. Then in its three-driver title showdown all three fell over the line. The championship winner did so almost in spite of himself.

Williams' enigmatic Carlos Reutemann started the season superbly, but faltered from mid-summer. Brabham's Nelson Piquet did roughly the opposite. Reutemann was a point ahead for the decider; Ligier's Jacques Laffite six shy was an outsider.

But the new venue for the finale - winding around Caesars Palace car park in Las Vegas - changed the game. The heat sapped, and it had a twisting left-handed layout. Stamina would count. "I think, for sure, that Carlos is going to be world champion," Gilles Villeneuve commented, "because he is much stronger than Piquet."

Reutemann's effortless pole cemented the apparent inevitability. Piquet was fourth; Laffite 12th. But Reutemann's race drive was inexplicable.

He faded to nothing in a way never fully explained. He was fourth at the first corner; seventh after three laps. Not long later Piquet passed him with little resistance. The Argentinian finished a lapped eighth.

Reutemann afterwards talked about poor handling, mismatched tyres, gearbox problems... But they do not explain his lack of fight. He was one indeed notorious for dropping off when things weren't perfect.

Laffite drove tenaciously to second, then his tyres went off. This left Piquet needing only sixth place for the title. Yet he was, as Autosport's Jeff Hutchinson explained, "on his last reserves of strength". He faded to fifth and with another lap could have lost everything. But, driving by instinct, he got home with two seconds to spare.

While all this was going on Reutemann's team-mate Alan Jones disappeared into the distance to win, in what everyone thought was his last race before retirement.