What Numbers Are Considered Lucky In China

As discussed above, lucky mobile phone numbers are often rationally used as a symbol of success and wealth to distinguish meanings of social status. As symbolic tokens, mobile phone numbers transcend the restraints of time and space to certain degree, and thus manifest disembedding mechanism of modernity . This indicates clearly that the invented tradition of the social craze for lucky mobile phone numbers is not a sub-culture of superstition against modernity, but a very expression of it.

In China, it is customary to regard even numbers as being more auspicious than odd ones. So, gifts are given in even numbers for the celebration of all occasions. No. 8 has long been regarded as the luckiest number in Chinese culture. With pronunciation of 'Ba' in Chinese, no. 8 sounds similar to the word 'Fa', which means to make a fortune. It contains meanings of prosperity, success and high social status too, so all business men favor it very much. Moreover, in some areas of China, people prefer to pay much more money for a telephone number with 8 in it.

They also favor residences on the eighth floor of buildings. In 1990s, a vehicle identification number with 8 was once auctioned off for 5 million Hong Kong dollars. 4 is well known to be an unlucky number because 四 sounds similar to 死 (sǐ), which means "death" in Chinese. People will go to extremes based on superstitions of the number 4.

Houses and apartments that have 4 in the address number will sell for much less than ones without. Mentioning the number four to an ill family member is considered to be highly offensive, and giving anything with 4 on it to someone can be seen as a death threat. Every country and culture has its own superstitions, especially when it comes to numbers. In the US, for example, the number 13 is considered bad luck, and it's why you'll rarely see a 13th floor in hotels and some taller buildings. On the other hand, the number 7 is considered lucky, especially when there are three 7s in a row. As discussed above, when the possession of wealth signifies success, lucky mobile phone numbers acquired as a form of conspicuous consumption become a way of imagining success.

The social meanings of lucky mobile phone numbers in China thus suggest a national priority and social anxiety towards "being rich". Because of its negative association with death, most people consider this number to be so unlucky that many buildings in China do not even have a "fourth" floor. The number 4 is also unlikely to appear on house/door numbers and car license plates. Whenever, possible, many people will also try hard to avoid choosing telephone numbers that contain the number 4. Is well known to be an unlucky number because 四 sounds similar to 死 (sǐ), which means "death" in Chinese. Did you know that if you press a Chinese elevator button to go to the 50th floor of a building, you may actually only be going to the 35th floor?

This is because many buildings in China not only omit the 13th floor, but are also missing any floor containing the number 4, which is considered to be the unluckiest number in Chinese culture. The Chinese have many superstitions about numbers, often related to similar-sounding words in the Chinese language, which are called homophones. In China, whether a number is considered lucky or not, their special meanings are often related to the pronunciation of the numbers. If the number sounds similar to a positive word, then it is considered lucky and vice versa.

The East Asian culture has developed by sharing common grounds with Chinese Confucianism ethics . Moreover, 80% of Korean vocabulary has its origin in Chinese. As a result, Korean and Chinese languages have many words that have similar pronunciations. For example, the number of 4 is detested in both cultures because it sounds like death. One Korean informant tells me that Korean people are so superstitious about the number of 4 that they even try to avoid using 4 for labeling the floors or apartments in some buildings. Although the belief in the magic power of words has existed in Chinese culture for a long time, the social craze for lucky numbers is a recent phenomenon.

It originated in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, right after the open-up policy, which itself signaled a nationwide shift towards the pursuit and worship of wealth and fortune. The basis for associating numbers with auspice mainly lies on pronunciations or homophony. For instance, in Cantonese, the number of 8 sounds the same with "fortune" (发). The number of 6 sounds like the word for "to flow" (溜) which means "everything goes smoothly".

Certain numbers are considered lucky, and others unlucky. The luckiest number in Chinese culture is eight, as the Chinese for eight sounds like the word for 'lucky'. Four, conversely is a very unlucky number as in Chinese it sounds like the word for death. Thus Chinese adhering to the customs try to avoid the number four in, for example, car number plates, house addresses etc. Even numbers are traditionally luckier than odd numbers. When you give a present to your Chinese business partner, even numbered gifts are always better than odd ones.

However you should never, ever give someone something in a set of four. Four is China's unluckiest number and it sounds almost exactly like the Chinese word for death. In a country where it is easy for people to choose their own phone numbers, the ones free of the number four are the most popular. Some buildings even skip the floors 4, 14, and 40 to ensure that no harm comes to the inhabitants. Superstitious beliefs about numbers and prices are sometimes far more powerful than the functional signals.

These beliefs are often based on how a culture thinks of the significance of particular numbers as either auspicious or inauspicious. Superstitious beliefs play an important role in pricing, especially in which price endings are used and how they are interpreted in a culture. Unlike the United States, where prices ending with 9 are the most common, in many Asian countries, including China, Japan, and Malaysia, the most popular price ending is 8. They believe that the number is a representation of the fact that everything will go smoothly or is going smoothly. In some regions in China, there is a wedding tradition whereby the groom must offer a betrothal gift to the bride's family in the form of money in the value of six.

By doing this, the couple is believed to have a happy and peaceful marriage. Even in business the number six is considered lucky, which is why you'll find contracts being signed when the dates on them have six in it. Colors are also of great importance in Chinese culture in terms of luck and bad luck.

There is a reason why red, yellow, and green are always used in traditional celebrations. These are considered auspicious colors in Chinese culture. Likewise, certain colors are believed to bring bad luck. The pronunciation of the number four in Japanese is very similar to the word death, and because of this, four has been considered bad luck in Japan, Korea and China. It is considered very bad luck to give a gift that is made up of four pieces to someone.

Many buildings in heavily Asian areas do not have a fourth floor, much like the way North American cultures treat the number 13. Chinese numerology might seem like an obscure field, but this unique set of beliefs plays a big role in modern Chinese culture. Read this article to gain insight into this quirky aspect of modern Chinese life. Like 5, 7 has both positive and negative connotations in Chinese culture.

For the positive side, 七 sounds like both 起 (qǐ), which means "start" or "rise", and also 气 (qì), which means "vital energy". Seven is also seen as a lucky number for relationships. The Qixi Festival (七夕節), also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the 7th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar. The 7th month is also known as the "ghost month" in China, where ghosts and spirits are believed to rise from hell to visit earth. While ghosts may be seen as omens, the ghost festival in the 7th month is widely celebrated.

7 may also be considered unlucky because 七 sounds like 欺 , meaning "cheat". 3 (三), pronounced san, is considered lucky due to its similarity in sound to the word that means birth. Additionally, this number represents the three stages in the life of humans - birth, marriage, death - that adds to its importance in Chinese culture. 6 (六), pronounced liu, is considered lucky as it sounds like the word that means 'to flow', and can indicate smooth progress in life.

Similar to 8, 6 is preferred in number plates and phone numbers. When a couple gets engaged, the man customarily offers a gift to the girl's family which is usually money and this gift signifies a harmonious life for the couple. In China, lucky numbers have pronunciations that are similar to words with lucky meanings. As well as these general number superstitions, fengshui and the Chinese zodiac dictate different number luck for different places/people.

As consumers of commodities where the global and local are thus interconnected, mobile phone users achieve hybrid identities. Hopefully, "where there is consumption there is pleasure, and where there is pleasure there is agency" . From this perspective, we may see the opposing orientations between the colonialization of life-world and the autonomy of individual actors. As Max Chang wrote in a 2017 Next Shark article, the number 4 is unlucky for Chinese because the word is a homonym to a Chinese word for death. So imagine, having a phone number that begins with "444" sounds like death-death-death.

What Numbers Are Lucky In China That is why the Chinese will request custom phone numbers for their businesses or homes, to avoid the number 4. On the other hand, it's considered fortunate if you have a phone number with an 8. 6 sounds like the Chinese word "liu" which means "flowing, smooth, or frictionless". As such, 6 implies that "everything will go smoothly" and is considered lucky especially if it comes in multiples.

Thus, it is particularly appealing to business owners, who are willing to pay extra to occupy buildings at addresses containing the number 6. 6 is pronounced "liu" in Mandarin Chinese, and this sounds like the Mandarin Chinese word meaning "flowing, smooth, or frictionless". Therefore, the number 6 has the meaning of "everything will go smoothly" and is considered lucky especially where it occurs in multiples. In feng shui, the number 6 represents authority and power.

Asians also go by Chinese or Indian astrology and numerology. For the Chinese, even numbers are considered lucky, since it is believed that good luck comes in pairs. But 4 is unlucky , whereas 8 stands for sudden fortune and prosperity (remember the Olympic Games in Beijing started on Aug. 8, 2008 at 8 min past 8). And this can snowball up to three times prosperity, means 'wealthy, wealthy, wealthy!

I never knew the number 4 could symbolize good luck in China. I only knew people considered it bad luck because of its similar pronunciation to death. It's amazing how many different concepts the number 4 can represent. I'm glad to hear the number isn't completely unlucky. From this creative interpretation of the unlucky number, I gained new insight into the recent superstition surrounding the magical and mystical allure of the number of 8. Instead of being an ungrounded claim based on tenuous linkages between certain numbers and auspicious incidents, the popularization of lucky numbers is borne out of faddism and fetishism.

This is significant because more personal and diverse spaces are available when the digital resources are not mobilized and utilized by collective forces. Thus, many mobile phone users deliberately select numbers that are personally significant and coincide with their birthdays or marriage anniversaries. Most of my Korean informants state that the appreciated mobile phone number is the one easy-to-remember. In tracing the continuity and changes of the social practice of lucky numbers, I take South Korea, which has a certain cultural proximity to China, as a comparison with China for this study.

My analysis also reveals that the invented tradition of lucky mobile phone numbers is not a superstition against rationality, but a manifestation of modernity. Chinese lucky number and unlucky number, do you know it? In Chinese culturecertain numbers are considered "lucky" because their pronunciations sound similar to words that have "lucky" meanings.

People select lucky numbers when choosing residences, telephone numbers, business addresses, wedding dates, festivals and other celebratory events. If you've lived in a condominium in Metro Vancouver, you've likely noticed a few missing floor numbers along the way - it turns out that Vancouverites can count, after all. In Western cultures, the number 13 has been considered unlucky, and the number 4 is avoided in Chinese cultures for sounding similar to the word "death". These missing floor numbers have been omitted over the years - floors and unit numbers containing a 13 or 4 seen as undesirable by superstitious homebuyers were deleted by developers across the city. Numbers and colors had great meaning and played an important role in the culture of Ancient China. Some were considered lucky, while others were considered unlucky and should be avoided.

Some were so special they were reserved for the emperor alone. Others believe it is because of the tie-in with 13 and the lunar cycle. 13 is the exact number of full moons in a calendar year, and since people have thought that the moon controls emotion and makes people a bit crazy, then 13 is bad luck. In many Persian cultures, 13 is unlucky as well, showing that this superstition crosses cultural borders.

And of course, Friday the 13th is considered very bad luck. In Chinese culture, lucky numbers can bring good luck and fortune to their life. In China, numerology is more than just a superstition, it's a lifestyle. 'Eight,' for example, is considered a lucky number, so lucky, in fact, that people will splash millions to have a string of eights on their license plates or in their phone numbers. Culture Trip explores which numbers are good and which are bad and what that might mean for you.

Chinese' fondness for 8 can be seen in many other cases, such as house numbers, phone numbers, number plates, wedding dates, the date for opening a business, and so on. 8 is considered lucky and favored by Chinese because it holds meaning in both traditional and modern cultures. This number is a dreaded number in Chinese superstition and a very unlucky number.

This is because it is almost homophonous with the Chinese word 'si' which means 'death'. Therefore, numbered items in China such as phone numbers, car license numbers and room numbers omit number 4 in them. Similarly numbered products from China omit number 4 in them e.g. Chinese dwell in superstitions and beliefs and have a huge dependence on numbers in their day to day lives. They lay great emphasis on the use of numbers which, according to their culture, may be considered lucky or unlucky.

The fetishism and faddism of lucky mobile phone numbers in present Chinese society reveal that the social structural vacuum in imaginary domain is filled up by widespread worship of gods of fortunes. That is, associating numbers with fortune and interpreting of unlucky numbers positively are creative activities by which people are provided with ontological security. By selecting numbers, mobile phone users demonstrate autonomy and spontaneity in expressing their desire to command their future and fortune.

Formula 1 Qualifying Time Tomorrow

Get all of the latest F1 results from practice sessions, qualifying and race day here. Alongside regularly updated standings, we'll cover the final driver and constructor points tallies at the end of each season. Together with all of the standard F1 race coverage, you'll find Esports results and standings from all Virtual Grand Prix events here too. The drama dutifully returned on the street circuit of Azerbaijan's capital, with a joint-record four red flags brought out during Saturday's qualifying session.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to grasp pole position for the second race in a row but failed to keep it beyond lap two, when he was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. After that the Monegasque went backwards down the order but recovered to fourth. The Mercedes driver completed a clean sweep of top times on Friday in Jeddah, leading FP2 by 0.061s from team-mate Valtteri Bottas despite both drivers having their soft tyre qualifying-style runs hampered.

The second practice session was ended prematurely by a heavy crash for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Qualifying could be crucial in determining the outcome of Sunday's race. Crucially, if neither Verstappen nor Hamilton finishes the Grand Prix, it is the Dutchman who will claim a maiden world title on Sunday owing to having more overall race wins this season. Q3 looked set to be a tight affair but Red Bull executed a strategic plan brilliantly as Sergio gave Max a tow on the first runs in the session and Max duly went on to complete a stunning final sector as he set the pace by over half a second. Nobody could come close to him on the final attempts and he took the 90th pole position for a Honda-powered car in Formula 1, giving him the best possible starting position for Sunday's championship showdown. The qualifying session started strongly as Max was third quickest ahead of Sergio in fourth, Yuki in fifth and Pierre seventh, ensuring all four Honda-powered cars made it through to Q2 in comfortable fashion.

The second part of qualifying is when the starting tyre compounds are decided for anyone in the top ten, and there was a real split as some teams opted for mediums and others for softs. The second of the back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring saw Verstappen pick up where he left off, delighting the Austrian crowd with pole position and then leading every lap of his team's home grand prix. A huge number of Dutch fans also mad there way to Austria to watch their hero dominate proceedings. Hamilton earned the 100th pole position of his career in Barcelona, but duly gave up first position on the first corner of the grand prix, having no option but to sacrifice the spot to an aggressive move by Max Verstappen. It's not as if all is lost for the seven-time world champion after missing out on the pole position, however, given the fact that he is still set to start the race on the front row and on medium tires, compared to Verstappen's soft tires.

Alpine are due to give new Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri some track time, while both Ferrari and Haas will test another Formula 2 driver, Robert Shwartzman. Mercedes welcomes Formula E champion Nyck de Vries, and Formula 2's Logan Sargeant makes his debut in a Williams. All teams will be obliged to run rookies in free practice sessions from 2022, so expect to see a lot more of them during grands prix weekends. I'll be back tomorrow with the build-up to the title-deciding race from around 11am.

Hamilton second on the more favourable medium tyres, but with a bunch of soft tyre runners around him. Let's hope the season gets the finale it deserves. Lewis Hamilton is one of the most active Formula One racing drivers on social media, a job that he takes quite seriously (along with his team Mercedes-AMG) when it comes to connecting with its millions of fans.

Whether it be Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, the team/driver dynamic duo is constantly interacting with followers from across the globe day and night. Of course, that was until the 2021 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks back, when things didn't exactly go their way. Sky's race day coverage of this weekend's Abu Dhabi grand prix will also simulcast on Channel 4, as mentioned above.

All Sky customers will have access to qualifying on Saturday and the race via Sky Showcase. However, Sky Sports F1 will be the only place where you can watch every session, including free practice, as well as the Formula 2 finale. The qualifying race is held a day before the final race day. It is carried out to determine the starting grids of the drivers on the final race day. Meanwhile Stroll was by the accident ahead and drove into the side of Leclerc. After a safety car, teams were told there would be a standing start from the grid, but just beforehand all the drivers except leader Hamilton dived into the pits for slick tyres, as the track was drying.

On soft-compound tires, Verstappen took the fastest lap of the qualifying session. His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, will be starting fourth. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen head into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix level on 369.5 points after a long, exhilarating and regularly acrimonious battle. The drama could not prevent Hamilton from taking a third successive chequered flag, though, to leave the drivers' championship resting on a knife-edge. Hamilton is almost 1.5s quicker than Verstappen so far, however, the Red Bull driver is still on medium tyres.

We'll get a far more realistic look at the gap once he switches to softs nearer the end of the final practice session. In a dramatic twist, Verstappen suffered a flat-spot to his medium tyres in Q2, forcing Red Bull to switch his starting set to softs ahead of tomorrow's race. The 24-year-old will start on the faster set of tyres while Hamilton, who joined him on the front row, will be on the mediums. Red Bulls' Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton are locked in a close battle for the F1 drivers championship. Both of them will look to improve their place in the standings with a victory on Sunday in the 2021 United States Grand Prix.

The race will be 56 laps of the 3.426 mile Circuit of The Americas Sunday. The weekend will include three days of events and entertainment to enjoy. You can also watch Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup coverage. Channel 4 has free-to-air Formula 1 qualifying and race highlights which usually start airing a few hours after the chequered flag has been waved. It also has live free-to-air coverage of the British grand prix every year, and is home of the all-women's W Series.

Going into the final grand prix of the year at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit, Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton are tied on 369.5 points each. The last time where the two leading Formula 1 drivers in the championship went into the final race tied on points was in 1974. One thing is certain, this season, which has won the sport a whole legion of new fans, is unlikely to have had its final plot twist. The possibility that the destination of this year's title is eventually decided in the stewards' room, or even a court room, remains very real.

McLaren's Lando Norris, who starts third after a brilliant performance, admitted he was so nervous of getting caught up in the drama, he wasn't even sure he would try to race the two championship leaders. Another exciting element of the 2021 F1 season was the debut of Sprint Qualifying. The 100km races determined the starting grid for Sunday's grands prix and awarded championship points to the top three drivers. Channel 4's commentator called the inaugural Saudi GP "an incredible day of confusion," which is an understatement – this will go down as one of the most contentious races of all time. But it delivered on thrills and means a final race of the season with the two leading drivers tied on points, as the incredible 2021 season reaches its conclusion. Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the pole position for Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by recording the fastest lap time in the third and final round of qualifying.

Three other qualifying sessions earlier this year set the starting lineup for a sprint qualifying race, which then determined the starting lineup for the main event. Ahead of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in the third and final practice session. The Brit is chasing an unprecedented eighth title. May the best man and the best team win," Wolff said to Horner. "This one is just a fierce fight between teams and drivers that have done a really great job, but, sometimes in the races were 45 seconds up the road lapping almost the whole field. Hamilton tells the Mercedes crew that the rear of his car is very hot.

The track temperature is around 38C right now, although that'll cool down considerably during the gap between this final practice session and the start of qualifying. The qualifying for the Brazilian F1 weekend will include the standard Q1, Q2 elimination format, coupled with the final shoot-out for pole in Q3, with the results of the session determining the starting grid for the sprint on Saturday . In the event of one of these relatively unlikely outcomes leading to a tie on points, the driver who has claimed the most wins of the season would take the title. This season, Max has won nine grands prix while Lewis has won eight, which would therefore make Max the drivers' champion if they were tied on points. In the event two drivers had the same number of points and grand prix victories, the countback continues through the highest number of second places, highest number of third places and so on. Wolff and his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner have been involved in back-and-forth encounters too, drawing amusement from some and disdain from others, as the fight goes on for the constructor championship as well as the drivers' title.

Elsewhere outside the big two, Fernando Alonso's podium finish, the changing team line-ups for next year and even the additions of rules such as sprint qualifying have all been big talking points in Formula One recently. Crucially Verstappen will be on soft tyres after flat-spotting his set of mediums during the second qualifying session - which he otherwise would've started the race on - while Hamilton will be on mediums as expected. For those on a budget, once again there are extended highlights of all F1 races on Channel 4, with additional live coverage of the British Grand Prix in July.

A last-minute rights deal meant the Channel 4 also showed live coverage of the Abu Dhabi finale, though using the Sky Sports F1 feed and commentary. Highlights were also available on the channel's on-demand service, All 4. Verstappen started seventh but made a storming start to reach fourth by turn one, but Hamilton capitalised on pole position and kept his lead. By lap five, Vesrtappen was up into second place, driving the doors off his Red Bull , with Bottas and Perez also driving through the field to make up for lowly grid positions.

Norris led for much of the race, and regained the advantage shortly after a late stop for a set of fresh rubber. It was "won" by Max Verstappen, who had qualified on pole, with a delighted George Russell in the Williams finishing behind him after a sensational lap on Saturday. For the final time in the 22-race 2021 Formula 1 season, the starting lineup for a Grand Prix was set by way of a three-round knockout qualifying session. Get stuck into race weekend early with free practice results published on the Friday of every event and keep track of how things are progressing throughout the season with our regular 'as things stand' updates.

Stay close to this page for all of your F1 practice, qualifying and race results. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen traded fastest times in the opening two practice sessions yesterday, with Red Bull fastest in the morning and Mercedes dominant in the second session. Max Verstappen will start ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after clinching pole position ahead of Sunday's race. The qualifying session for the 19th round of the 2021 F1 season in Brazil will be held on Friday at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace circuit in Sao Paulo after the first free practice session.

In the final practice session of the season, Lewis Hamilton was a good two tenths of a second quicker than Max Verstappen - and that's even before you factor in that the Brit tends to find a little bit more than his title rival during qualifying. As David Brent would say, this is the 'real quiz' now. This will decide the starting order of the top 10 for tomorrow's race.

Despite those Q2 times, on even tyres I would just about still make Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton favourites. That growing archive includes past grands prix and highlights packages, season reviews going back to the 1970s, plus documentaries about drivers, teams and the sport's tech. In terms of track dynamic, there will be long straights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit this weekend, which ought to favour Mercedes as they gun for a one-two finish. After 21 exciting races, the F edition heads into the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend to determine the Drivers' and the Constructors' Champions. Title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are level on points (369.5) going into the final race, with the Dutchman having a slight advantage due to more race wins this year. Verstappen has won nine GPs as compared to Hamilton's eight.

We just couldn't compete with that time at the end. We're in a good position I'd like to think with our tyres tomorrow. Verstappen complained of having worn tyres with five laps to go, but he couldn't pit without losing second place to Ocon. Hamilton nursed his own car home to take the win, with Verstappen 7sec behind – his time penalty making no difference to the order.

Completing the excitement, Bottas passed Ocon metres before the chequered flag to complete the podium. But when the leader slowed on the straight to hand back the place, Hamilton ran into the back of the Red Bull, causing damage to his front wing – a result of poor communication between teams and race control, it is thought. Both cars were able to continue and Verstappen yielded again but immediately re-took the position at the next corner. Then the Dutchman got a stormer of a start to retake the lead on the medium tyres versus Hamilton's hards.

Verstappen started second and finished second, after a steady performance. The seven-times world champion again had to settle for second place, although he did snatch an extra point for the fastest lap thanks to a late pit stop. Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff admitted that, for the first time in the turbo-hybrid era that his team has dominated, Mercedes had "no weapons in our armoury". Hamilton agreed, estimating that Red Bull had an advantage of a quarter of a second on every lap of its home circuit. However, the real drama came in the latter part of the race, when leader Max Verstappen suffered a tyre blowout at high speed on lap 45 of 51, becoming the second driver after Aston Martin's Lance Stroll to suffer the same issue. That triggered a red flag, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton lining up on the first row of the grid.

After 21 races, Formula 1's world championship will be decided at this afternoon's season finale as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton go head-to-head at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sunday's crazy race saw two red flags, multiple virtual safety car interventions and five drivers crash out before Hamilton won his eighth race of the season to level the drivers' standings. In the championship-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it will be Max Verstappen starting from pole position, his 10th pole of the season — and the most important of the year. Results from the final practice session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Round 21 of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship.

Results from the third and final practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Round 22 of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. Here is our report from that final practice session. The advantage would appear to be with Hamilton, but it's certainly all to play for as we gear up for qualifying. In the meantime, Carlos Sainz, on soft tyres, clocks the fastest lap of Q2 so far. As a reminder, drivers must start Sunday's race with the tyre compound in which they record their fastest time of Q2. Good afternoon all, welcome to our live coverage of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton expect to jostle for pole position at Yas Marina.

Adding to this, tyre choice is restricted to make it more difficult for teams and, of course, there's the risk of damage to cars in the sprint that could put them out of the running for Sunday's main race. What does all this mean for the championship after a close, dramatic and often controversial season? Will Max win his first ever drivers' title, or will Lewis add an eighth to his record-equalling haul?

All will be revealed this weekend – and here's how to keep in tune with the action. Ahead of the season finale, here is a look at what time is F1 qualifying and the details of how to watch Abu Dhabi GP live in India, the US and the UK. Verstappen flat-spotted his mediums in Q2, then got a slipstream from Sergio Perez to set his eventual pole position lap in Q3. Guess their biggest concern will be the fact that they could have been on pole AND starting on the medium tyres; the same as Hamilton. There is a possibility of strategic vulnerability there. That said, the soft tyres did seem to last quite a while, so it may not be too big a deal.

I am also worried for tomorrow because their long runs were much better on Friday. The car that's faster tomorrow will win the race, irrespective of who starts on each tyre. "We really are trying to get everything out of our cars to the last lap, the last corner. It has been really enjoyable for most of the time. In 20 years myself and other people will look back on it and remember this year." Hamilton, seated to his right, looked over at his rival.

I am grateful I have had such a close battle with Max and his team. They have done an exceptional job, shown true strength and pushed us to the limit in ways that we needed. I hope we have many more season like this." And so say all of us.