Lewis Hamilton won in Saudi Arabia after several controversial moments in his fight with Max Verstappen. And what a title decider we have in store next week.
No major changes at the front after the start of the race: Lewis Hamilton kept the lead into Turn One, as Max Verstappen remained third behind Valtteri Bottas. Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc also mentained his fourth place, while at the back Carlos Sainz (who chose the Hard tyres for the first stint) gained one place after the start and then immediately passed Kimi Raikkonen to move up to P13. Carlos soon also got ahead of Yuki Tsunoda with a nice move.
Just 10 laps into the race, we had our first Safety Car, as Mick Schumacher crashed at Turn 21. Ferrari decided to pit Charles Leclerc, which in retrospect was not ideal, as just a few laps later there was a red flag. Drivers therefore headed back to the pits and Verstappen, like others on the grid, were will be able to change tyres without losing time. Unfortunately Charles was now behind Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo, who did not come in for a pit stop.
As expected, Race Control confirmed there would be another standing start. But there was soon another red flag as Sergio Perez and Nikita Mazepin both crashed and Williams driver George Russell was also out. The Red Bull driver tussled with the SF21 of Charles Leclerc who could not avoid contact.
The second restart was far from ideal for Scuderia Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fell to P10 and P11, but soon both recovered two places as Yuki Tsunoda spun at Turn 1 after making contact with Sebastian Vettel, who also went around. During the Virtual Safety Car period, the Maranello team decided to swap the positions of Charles and Carlos, as the Spanish driver was on medium tyres and was therefore faster. The Ferrari drivers caught up with Antonio Giovinazzi and passed him, but that was as much as Carlos and Charles could recover in the last stint at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. In the last lap, Carlos gave the position back to Charles.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from today’s 2021 F1 World Championship race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Results (Classification):
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes – 50 laps
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +11.825
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +27.531
Esteban Ocon Alpine +27.633
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +40.121
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +41.613
Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +44.475
Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +46.606
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +58.505
Lando Norris McLaren +61.358
Lance Stroll Aston Martin +77.212
Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing +83.249
Fernando Alonso Alpine +1 lap
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1 lap
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1 lap
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin NC
George Russell Williams Racing NC
Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing NC
Nikita Mazepin Haas NC
Mick Schumacher Haas NC
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