© Getty ImagesMax Claims P2 In Dramatic Jeddah DuelAn action-packed inaugural Saudi Arabian GP saw Max claim second as Checo DNFs.
MaxVerstappenwillgotothefinalraceofthe2021FIAFormulaOneWorldChampionshiplevelonpointswithtitlerivalLewisHamiltonafterfinishingsecondbehindtheMercedesdriverinahugelydramaticSaudiArabianGrandPrix.
The race in Jeddah featured two re-starts, one safety car period, numerous virtual safety cars and a controversial collision when Hamilton ran into the back of Max’s car when the Dutch driver tried to obey a race control ruling to hand the lead back to the Mercedes driver.
An Crucial Racing Incident At Jeddah© Getty Images
At the start of the race Max made a good getaway from third place on the grid, but ahead of him both Mercedes also made good starts and as the field headed towards turn one Hamilton led ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max. Behind them Sergio Pérez made a great start and almost made it past fourth-place starter Charles Leclerc, but the Mexican locked up slightly into turn one and that allowed Leclerc to pull back ahead and hold fourth as they exited turn two.
Having missed out on the opportunity to get past Leclerc at the start, Checo then found himself lodged behind the Ferrari in the opening laps and losing time. And though he stayed in DRS range he couldn’t find a way past and by lap six he was 6.4 seconds behind Hamilton who sat 2.7s ahead of third-placed Max.
The status changed on lap 10 when Mick Schumacher hit the wall. The Haas driver lost control on entry and slid sideways into the TecPro barriers at turn 22. As the safety car was deployed Mercedes opted to pit Hamilton and the race leader took on hard tyres in a 2.8-second stop. The Team covered that by pitting Checo from P5 and after his stop for hard tyres he re-joined in an eventual P8.
Bottas took the lead, with Max furiously complaining that the Finn was driving excessively slowly. The second Mercedes then pitted as the Team kept Max on track.
The Dutchman powered into the lead as Hamilton and Bottas took up second and third place respectively. Behind the top three Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo also stayed on track during the SC and they rose to fourth and fifth respectively with Leclerc, who pitted, dropping to sixth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who stayed out, and Checo.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021: Race
Going Wheel To Wheel In Jeddah© Getty Images
Pit Lane Queues At The Track© Getty Images
Keeping Warm Behind The Safety Car© Getty Images
A Tough Battle For Pole In Jeddah© Getty Images
Late Braking At Turn 1 By Max© Getty Images
Fierce Corner Battles In Jeddah© Getty Images
Tough Battle At Debut Track In Jeddah© Getty Images
The race then swung towards Max on lap 14 when having examined the barriers damaged by Schumacher’s Haas, Race Control waved the red flags and the race was halted.
The cars streamed back to the pit lane, where under red flag rules, the Team was permitted to change Max’s tyres. He would take the re-start from pole and on fresh rubber.
A standing re-start was decreed and when the lights went out it was again Hamilton who made the best getaway and he pulled ahead of Max into turn one. Max braked late and tried to hang on around the outside, but he went off track as he took the lead. Max’s move also allowed Ocon to sneak past Hamilton and steal second place.
But behind the chaos was unfolding. Starting from P8 Checo got squeezed badly, though initially he managed to avoid contact with the cars on either side. However, there was nothing he could do when Leclerc tagged the Red Bull, spinning him into the wall. The chaos continued when Haas’ Nikita Mazepin outbraked himself and slammed into the rear of George Russell’s Williams and the red flags were flown again.
After the incident at the first re-start, Race Control promoted Ocon to first place with Hamilton second and with Max directed to start from third place ahead of Ricciardo and Bottas.
Hard And Tight Racing For Pole Position© Getty Images
When the lights went out for a third standing start, it was Max who made the best start. The Red Bull driver reacted 0.01s quicker than Hamilton and as the Mercedes driver tussled with Ocon, Max dived to the inside and slipped past his title rival in turn one. And with momentum on his side, he then powered past Ocon on the run to turn three to brilliantly take the lead.
The front pair then rapidly pulled away from the Alpine and by lap 25 Max and Hamilton were 12 seconds clear of the chasing pack and battling in a completely different league than their rivals.
On lap 29, following an earlier collision between AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and then contact between Vettel and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, the VSC was deployed to clear debris and Max’s medium tyres were given a breather.
The drama continued on lap 37. Hamilton closed in and attacked on the pit straight. The rivals tangled in turn one and Max left the track as he held the lead. The Red Bull driver was told to cede the lead but when he slowed on track to do so, Hamilton, seemingly unaware that the instruction had been given, did not slow enough and slammed into the back of the Red Bull.
Max powered away into the lead again, but once more handed the place back. And after being handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and with his tyres fading, Max settled for second place.
Behind the top two, Bottas beat Ocon out of the final corner to claim third place. With the Alpine driver fourth, fifth place went to Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly took sixth for AlphaTauri. Chalres Leclerc was seventh and Carlos Sainz eighth for Ferrari. Ninth place went to Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and the final point went to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Max Claims P2 In Tough Jeddah Duel© Getty Images
SaudiArabianGrandPrixTop10
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Valtteri Bottas | Esteban Ocon | Daniel Ricciardo | Pierre Gasly | Charles Leclerc | Carlos Sainz | Antonio Giovinazzi | Lando Norris |
| Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Mercedes | Alpine | McLaren | AlphaTauri | Ferrari | Ferrari | Alfa Romeo | McLaren |
Max Ready For Final Showdown© Getty Images
There was definitely a lot of action today, a lot of things happened.
“There was definitely a lot of action today, a lot of things happened. I was told to give the position back, so I moved off the racing line and slowed down, Lewis just stayed behind me, I don’t understand why he didn’t pass. I don’t agree with the five-second penalty, but it is what it is and we’ll just move on. We didn’t have perfect pace in the race today, so that’s something to work on looking ahead to Abu Dhabi. We’re on equal points now heading into the final race, it’s going to be an exciting end to the season.”
Checo Keeping Calm Before Race Weekend© Getty Images
“It wasn’t the best weekend for the Team, we lost crucial points in the Constructors’ Championship, so we are going to Abu Dhabi now to try and turn things around. We were slightly unlucky with the first red flag but we got away well after the second restart. We got past Gasly and Charles and as I was coming out of turn three there just wasn’t enough room for everyone, given how the corner was. I ended up tangling with Charles, he clipped my rear tyre with his front right tyre. It was a bad moment for everyone but just a very unlucky one.
It is just a big shame because we needed those points today. I stayed with the car out on track because we were trying to turn the engine back on, we thought we could restart it but it was a bit on the hot side so we had to retire. It was a very important race for the Team today so this one hurts a lot but there is hope for Abu Dhabi. There is still optimism and something to fight for and we will give the final race of the season everything so let’s look forward.”
Taking The Charge To The Very End© Getty Images
Max has fought like a gladiator this weekend and given it everything.
“There was obviously an awful lot of damage and debris for Race Control to deal with because of all the incidents, so it was a frustrating race in that respect and we were probably lucky to come away with second, especially given the amount of damage we had to the back of our car. I don’t know what Lewis was doing because Max was trying to give the place up as instructed by Race Control, he lifted and you can hear that, it was clear we were trying to give the place up and we’d informed Race Control.
I don’t know if Lewis didn’t want to pass before the DRS zone, but it was very strange to have him drive straight up the back of Max. We got a five second time penalty, I thought it was on the harsh side, they both went wide and were racing. Max has fought like a gladiator this weekend and given it everything. It was frustrating to drop points in the constructors’ championship with Checo being taken out at the restart, so we now have one chance.
We have a week to regroup and now it goes down to the wire at Abu Dhabi. It’s a straight-out fight as it has been for the entire year. For the fans it is fantastic, it keeps the championship dream alive and we have one shot and it’s time to take it.”
