F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Lewis Hamilton wins in Jeddah after contact with Max Verstappen

5th December 2021 0 By Kamron Kent

F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Lewis Hamilton wins in Jeddah after contact with Max Verstappen

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton secured his 103rd race win after an intense duel between himself and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – the championship will now be carried over to Abu Dhabi on level points.

How the race unfolded

It was great start from both Mercedes drivers and led into the first corner with Hamilton out in front. Verstappen tried to break through the two black arrows but had to maintain his third position, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Unlike the supporting Formula Two races, prior to the F1 race, the pack of 20 drivers managed to get through the first lap unscathed.

By the end of the fourth lap, Hamilton was over a second ahead of his teammate Bottas and two seconds ahead of his title rival. In the early stages of the race, Hamilton and Bottas’ position in the field (P1 and P2, respectively) it meant Mercedes were on course to their eighth constructors title.

After a poor qualifying session on Saturday, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualified P15, the  stole P11 away from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso as the #55 Ferrari made a move stick into the first chicane on the eighth lap.

Mick Schumacher found himself buried into the barrier on the exit of turn 22 and wrecked the rear of his VF-21, this caused the safety car to be deployed on lap 10 of 50. As a result, Mercedes double stacked with Hamilton the first to stop. Verstappen stayed out to inherit track position.

However, Verstappen and Red Bull’s pit wall believed Bottas drove too slowly to allow Mercedes to effectively pull off a double-stacked pit stop.

On lap 13, the session was red flagged as race control looked to repair the damaged barrier from Schumacher’s crash.

Red flag duration: 17 minutes (Start: 17:58 – Finish: 18:15)

The race finally got back underway with a standing start as Verstappen lined up on pole with Hamilton alongside. It was a fantastic start from Hamilton but as the two drivers ventured around Verstappen cut the second corner and maintained the lead of the race. However, Hamilton fell back and was overtaken by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

We hope you’re enjoying this article: F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Lewis Hamilton wins in Jeddah after contact with Max Verstappen! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was tagged by Leclerc on the exit of the second corner and lost his front wing in the process but suffered mechanical issues and was forced to retire – benefitting Mercedes’ constructors hopes. However, in the same incident, Nikita Mazepin rear ended the gear box of George Russell (Williams) and both drivers were forced to retire.

This brought out the second red flag of the session as the track marshals worked to clear the debris.

Red flag duration: 23 minutes (Start: 18:21 – Finish: 18:44)

During the red flag period, Verstappen swapped his hard tyres back to a fresh set of the medium compounds while Hamilton remained on the hard compound.

For the third state of the evening, Hamilton got a poor start compared to Ocon. However, Verstappen managed to find space on the inside line to take away P2 from Hamilton and it wasn’t long before Verstappen regained the lead of the race.

By the end of the restart lap (17), Hamilton managed to regain P2 from Ocon down the main pit straight.

As the race ventured into the 20th lap, Verstappen claimed that he was losing power in his RB16B as he had Hamilton down his neck. But, according to the Red Bull pit wall it was just the Dutchman’s battery topping up.

On lap 23, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda made contact with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel as the two went around turn two. This resulted in both drivers on the run off with the Japanese driver without his front wing, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed as a result. The VSC ended on lap 24.

Ever since the restart, Hamilton has just been outside DRS (Drag Reduction System) range but as they ventured turn once on the 29th lap of 50, but as they neared the end of the lap Verstappen pushed that gap back out to a second and a half.

As Red Bull’s pit wall told Verstappen to give Hamilton to the track position, Hamilton wasn’t aware and the Red Bull slowed down too much and the 44 Mercedes damaged his front wing endplate on the back of Verstappen’s RB16B. This was quickly put under investigation by the race stewards.

Despite the damage to Hamilton’s Mercedes he still managed to put in the fastest lap. On Lap 43, Verstappen was given a five second penalty as it was believed the Dutch Red Bull left the track and gained an advantage.

Podium:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
  2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
  3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes

Driver of the day: Max Verstappen (26% of the vote – Sky Sports)

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (1:30.734)

That’s it from the article: F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Lewis Hamilton wins in Jeddah after contact with Max Verstappen. What did you think of the fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen? Let us know in the comments!

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

CategoryFormula 1
Tags2021 F1 Formula One Jeddah Jeddah Corniche Circuit Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes Red Bull Saudi Arabia

About the author

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Leave a Reply