2021

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton lashed out at title rival Max Verstappen after Sunday’s gripping Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, describing the Dutchman as “over the limit”. Hamilton won a chaotic race under lights on the Jeddah street circuit but only after several close run-ins with Red Bull’s Verstappen. “I really had to try and keep my cool out there which was really difficult to do,” said Hamilton. “I have raced a lot of drivers in my 28 years of racing, I have come across a lot of characters. There’s a few that are over the limit, the rules don’t apply.” “He’s over the limit for sure. I have avoided collision on so many occasions with the guy,” the seven-time world champion continued. “I don’t mind being the one who does that because you get to live another day. It doesn’t matter for him if we don’t finish. It does for me.” The tense battle culminated in a late collision when Hamilton, apparently unaware that Verstappen had been ordered to give up the lead after an illegal manoeuvre shortly before, hit the Red Bull as it braked in front of him. Red Bull maintained that Verstappen was simply following instructions while Mercedes insisted that the Dutchman was ‘brake-testing’. “I don’t understand why he hit the brakes quite so heavily so I ran into the back of him,” said Hamilton. “I didn’t get the information. It was very confusing.” A visibly annoyed Verstappen, however, denied any wrongdoing in the incident. “I slowed down, I wanted to let him by, I was on the right but he didn’t want to overtake and we touched,” said Verstappen. “I don’t really understand what happened there.” Stewards, who gave Verstappen a five-second penalty for an earlier incident, were investigating the decision. “It was quite eventful! A lot of things happened, which I don’t fully agree with, but it is what it is,” said the 24-year-old Dutchman. He later stormed off the podium, refusing to take part in the traditional end of race champagne spraying with Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas who took third. The two drivers are now level on points as they head to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend, although Verstappen has the advantage of having won more races. “It’s a straight fight as it has been all year,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “The form is with Mercedes but Max has fought like a lion this weekend, he has given it everything.” Hamilton has now won three races on the bounce and is primed to become the first man to win eight world titles, one more than the record he currently shares with Michael Schumacher. “I am personally chilled,” he said. “I feel like I am in the boxing ring and I am ready to go.”

Max Verstappen has been given a 10sec penalty for his latest clash with Lewis Hamilton, after stewards found that he slammed on his brakes ahead of the Mercedes in a 195mph section of the Jeddah circuit. The Dutchman was said to be “predominantly at fault” for the crash but has not lost any championship points as a result, thanks to a 21sec gap between him, when he crossed the line to finish second at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and third-placed Valtteri Bottas. He remains level at the top of the championship table with Hamilton, who accused his rival of “brake testing” him. Stewards called the pair to a hearing after the incident, which began when the Red Bull driver was told to hand back the lead to Hamilton as a result of passing him off track. Verstappen was told to make the switch “strategically” when he was at Turn 21. Five corners later he slowed, ahead of the DRS line which would give the following car a drag advantage on the main straight. But Hamilton had not been told of the plan. “I didn’t really understand what was going on,” he said after the race. “I was like, ‘is he trying to play some kind of crazy tactic? I don’t know’”. The Mercedes remained behind the Red Bull, drawing closer and closer until Hamilton suddenly swerved from behind his rival — too late to avoid clipping his front wing on the rear of the car. “Car 33 [Verstappen] slowed significantly at Turn 26,” the stewards found in their report. “However, it was obvious that neither driver wanted to take the lead prior to DRS detection line 3. “The driver of Car 33 stated that he was wondering why Car 44 [Hamilton] had not overtaken and the driver of Car 44 stated that, not having been aware at that stage that Car 33 was giving the position back, was unaware of the reason Car 33 was slowing. “In deciding to penalise the driver of Car 33, the key point for the Stewards was that the driver of Car 33 then braked suddenly (69 bar) and significantly, resulting in 2.4g deceleration.” Hamilton dropped back after the collision but was eventually let through by Verstappen at the same Turn 26. The Red Bull driver was behind the Mercedes at the DRS line, but then dived up the inside of the final corner, and had use of DRS to escape up the main straight. Concluding their report into the earlier incident which resulted in contact, the stewards added: “Whilst accepting that the driver of Car 44 could have overtaken Car 33 when that car first slowed, we understand why he (and the driver of Car 33) did not wish to be the first to cross the DRS. “However, the sudden braking by the driver of Car 33 was determined by the stewards to be erratic and hence the predominant cause of the collision and hence the standard penalty of 10 seconds for this type of incident, is imposed.” It was Verstappen’s second time penalty of the race, after he was docked 5sec for gaining an advantage over Hamilton by running off track.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and drawn level with championship rival Max Verstappen with just one race left in the 2021 world championship following a bad-tempered scrap between the pair. The greatest flashpoint of the season happened on lap 38, shortly after a Virtual Safety Car restart. Verstappen overtook Hamilton around the outside at turn one at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but could not stay on track. In trying to redress, Hamilton tucked in behind Verstappen approaching turn 27, Verstappen appeared to slow suddenly, and the two made contact.Hamilton suffered minor front wing damage, and Verstappen was given a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage. Hamilton took the lead back from Verstappen on lap 43, and drove away to his third win in succession. Verstappen maintained second place after the time penalty, falling away from Hamilton in the final laps. By setting the fastest lap of the race, Hamilton gained eight points on Verstappen – bringing both drivers to 269.5 points going into next weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The inaugural race in Jeddah will be remembered as a rather calamitous race on the whole, after two red flags for major incidents, and multiple virtual safety car interventions for incidents and debris on the racing line. The first red flag was for TecPro barrier repairs at turn 22, when Mick Schumacher spun off and crashed. Initially the safety car was deployed, and Verstappen stayed out on track while Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas pitted from first and second for hard compound tyres. The red flag was thrown on lap 14, allowing Verstappen to change to medium tyres. On the ensuing standing restart, Verstappen started from first, but Hamilton got a better launch off the line. Hamilton ran wide through turn one, forcing Verstappen off track, and Verstappen took the lead ahead of the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who had launched from fourth to second. Behind them, contact between Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez triggered a multi-car accident that took Pérez out of the race, along with George Russell and Nikita Mazepin. This brought out the second red flag. After heated debate, and even bargaining between FIA race control, Mercedes, and Red Bull, Ocon was placed at the front for the next standing restart, with Hamilton in second, and Verstappen moved back to third for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. On the medium tyres, Verstappen launched into the lead with a forceful block pass into turn one. Hamilton would make light contact with Ocon, but eventually settled into second, pursuing Verstappen for the lead. On lap 23, Sebastian Vettel was hit by Yuki Tsunoda, the incident and debris on track brought out a virtual safety car. Vettel would come to blows with Kimi Raikkonen on lap 28, and their collision necessitated another, longer VSC intervention. Over the line, Bottas used DRS to snatch third place from Ocon by just 0.102 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo finished in fifth, ahead of Pierre Gasly in sixth, then the Ferraris of Leclerc in seventh and Carlos Sainz Jnr in eighth. Antonio Giovinazzi scored points for Alfa Romeo in ninth, and Lando Norris took the final championship point in tenth. 2021 F1 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 50 Laps 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing + 11.825s 3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 27.531s 4 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 27.633s 5 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 40.121s 6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 41.613s 7 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 44.475s 8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 46.606s 9 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 58.505s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 61.358s 11 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 77.212s 12 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 83.249s 13 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 1 Lap 15 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap   Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team DNF   George Russell GBR Williams Racing DNF   Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing DNF   Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF   Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF