Drama-filled maiden Saudi GP leaves title rivals level on points

By Malhaar Khaladkar

Lewis Hamilton took his third consecutive victory for the first time this season in a drama filled first ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ahead of title rival Max Verstappen in P2. Both title protagonists are level on points heading into the season finale. Valtteri Bottas completed the podium as he got past Esteban Ocon just before the finish line on the last lap.

London, 6 December 2021: Both Mercedes cars started on the front row with Max Verstappen starting in P3. Everyone got off to a clean start as the Silver Arrows maintained formation, Lewis Hamilton leading Valtteri Bottas. Bottas job was to keep Verstappen at bay behind in P3. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc maintained P4 ahead of second Red Bull of Sergio Perez who was unable to pass the Monegasque.

The race turned over its head on lap 10 as Mick Schumacher hit the barrier at turn 23. A safety car was called out to neutralise the race as both Hamilton and Bottas pitted for hard tyres to save time while Verstappen stayed out and assumed the lead of the race. Soon the FIA red flagged the race, a controversial decision but nonetheless safety is paramount.It meant that Verstappen would get a free tyre change and would lead the grand prix when resumed.

It was a standing start as the racing resumed on lap 15. Hamilton got an electric start from P2 as he went past Verstappen. But the Dutchman broke late, going off at turn 1 and then cut in front of Hamilton at turn 2, as a result both ran wide and Verstappen maintained the lead while Esteban Ocon got past Hamilton for P2. Behind there was carnage. Perez was tagged by Leclerc as the Ferrari driver had no where to go. This incident wiped out Perez’s front wing and damaged the transmission. Further back, George Russell slowed to avoid the spinning Perez as Nikita Mazepin collided in the back of the Williams driver, spewing a large amount of debris.

Another red flag was called out as the marshals cleared the cars and track. Meanwhile in the pits, negotiations were taking place between FIA, Mercedes and Red Bull over Verstappen’s illegal move at the second start. Ultimately all parties deciding that Ocon would start on pole, Hamilton would inherit P2 and Verstappen would start P3.

Having had poor starts the first two times, Verstappen chose the medium tyres instead of hardsfor the third restart, to go to the end of the race and so did Bottas. Hamilton stuck to hard tyres as Mercedes thought they will have better wear compared to the mediums.

Once again, Hamilton had a better start compared to Ocon in P1. Hamilton tried to cover Ocon, but Verstappen dived down the inside, sandwiching Hamilton between himself and Ocon. Thus, Verstappen assumed the lead with Ocon in P2 and Hamilton in P3. Behind, Bottas tried to get past McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. By the end of the lap Hamilton eased past Ocon and resumed his charge to catch Verstappen.

There were three virtual safety car periods between laps 28 and 36 to pick up debris from Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin as he and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen came together resulting in carbon fiber confetti.

By the time VSC ended, Hamilton was within a second and hot on the heels of Verstappen. He got DRS and pulled alongside the Dutchman on the outside on lap 37. Going into turn 1, Hamilton was slightly ahead but Verstappen broke late and went wide, Hamilton to avoid collision went wide as well and joined the track at turn 2. Meanwhile, Verstappen simply cut turn 2 and emerged with a bigger lead than he had before. Hence, he was instructed to give the position back and the lead to Hamilton.

It was a bizarre sight as Verstappen slowed down to let Hamilton by, but the Briton had no idea about that, hence, he slowed down a well. Both drivers not wanting to cross the DRS detection line first as the car behind would get DRS. Then Verstappen seemed to brake check Hamilton as the Mercedes’ front collided with the Red Bull’s rear. Post- race investigation of the incident resulted in Verstappen getting an additional 10s-time penalty. The resultant collision damaged Hamilton’s front wing but the wing did not lose its integrity.

Race control once again told Verstappen to give up the place on lap 42. The Dutchman did so at the last corner, but immediately overtook him. Hence, again the Red Bull driver was instructed to give up the position on lap 43. This time Hamilton pushed Verstappen wide at the last corner and maintained the lead. From here on Hamilton extended his lead as Verstappen suffered with higher tyre wear. He was further awarded a 5s time penalty for going off the track and gaining an advantage on lap 37- where he pushed Hamilton off the track as well. From there on Hamilton comfortably won the race, even with a damaged front wing while Verstappen consolidated P2. Bottas at the last moment won a drag race against Ocon as he clinched the final podium position.

The win plus fastest lap for Hamilton meant that he was equal on points with Verstappen heading into the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a week’s time. Meanwhile, Mercedes extended their lead in the constructor’s championship to 28 points.

Ocon had to settle for P4 ahead of McLaren’s Ricciardo in P5, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly outraced both Ferrari’s to finish P6 as Charles Leclerc finished P7 and Carlos Sainz finished P8. Outgoing Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi finished P9 ahead of Lando Norris in P10, the McLaren driver not finishing higher than ninth in the last four races.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll missed out on points as he finished in P11. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crossed the line in P12 ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P13. Yuki Tsunoda looked to score points but his coming together with Vettel meant he finished P14 ahead of Raikkonen in P15.

The non-finishers were Vettel, Perez, Mazepin, Russell and Schumacher.

Mercedes had the faster car in race trim but struggled to switch on the soft tyres in qualifying. They did lock out the front row owing to Verstappen’s crash into the last corner as he was up by more than two and a half tenths. Mercedes and Hamilton have now won the last three races and with Hamilton equal on points and the momentum with them, Silver Arrows have a good chance to wrap up both championships. Red Bull focused more on qualifying this weekend and it showed as they had a superior car in one lap pace. They were slower in the race compared to Mercedes as they had a straight-line speed deficit as well as medium tyres wore faster than the hards.

Alpine struggled with qualifying pace as their highest position was P9. But come race day they made the most of red flags and Ocon ran in the top three for majority of the race, Alonso struggled partly due to his electric deployment not working properly and then having a spin midway through the grand prix. McLaren once again struggled in qualifying compared to immediate rivals Ferrari but again made the best use of stoppages as Ricciardo was able to finish P5. Norris lost out on positions due to pitting under the safety car and then a red flag being deployed. He was also caught out on the Perez-Leclerc incident as he had to slow down and fell to the back of the grid. Ferrari showed tremendous qualifying pace, especially in the hands of Leclerc who outqualified Perez’s Red Bull. They had decent race pace as well, achieving another double points finish and looking like they have cemented P3 over McLaren in the constructor’s championship.

AlphaTauri’s Gasly showed superior race pace compared to the Ferrari cars as he finished in P6. Tsunoda too showed pace to finish in the top 10 had he not collided with Vettel. Alpine looked to have cemented P5 over AlphaTauri in the constructor’s championship. Aston Martin had a race to forget as they showed dismal qualifying pace, both cars getting knocked out in Q1 and no car finishing in points. Giovinazzi had a brilliant race for Alfa Romeo as they close the gap to Williams in Eighth with one race to go. Williams once again were unable to score points as they lacked pace to challenge the top 10. The Haas car struggle this weekend with it being difficult to drive around this high-speed circuit.

Saturday Qualifying Results were: