Race By Race

Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas

The premier race of the season was led by Red Bulls Max Verstappen after taking the fastest lap, granting him pole position. His teammate Sergio Perez who started in P11 started the race with engine problems and had to step out of the race, losing an already harmful starting position, not being able to provide aid for Verstappen during the race. Nearing the end of the race Mercedes Lewis Hamilton held his lead after Verstappen went in for his second pit stop. On newer tires, Verstappen narrowed Hamilton’s lead to only 1 second going into the final laps. Verstappen made an illegal lunging move to pass Hamilton and was forced to give the position back. Hamilton then rose victorious giving him the first win of the 2021 F1 season. 

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Lando Norris

When the lights went out and the race began, Verstappen slid past Hamilton, taking decisive action and leading the race from the start of the 63 lap race. Hamilton was then sandwiched between both Red Bulls, with Verstappen ahead and Sergio Perez behind. The dangerous conditions of the grand Prix lead to many errors on the slick surface. Nicholas Latifi collided with Nikita Mazepin, putting him out of the race, and bringing out a safety car. Later in the race Williams’ George Russell and Valtteri Bottas collided resulting in a red flag, meaning the race would restart on the lap they were on. Late in the race, Verstappen widened his lead and went on to win the race, with Hamilton finishing 22 seconds later. McLaren’s Lando Norris goes on to get his second career podium in F1. 

Portuguese Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes started the race in P1 and P2, with Valtteri Bottas taking a large early lead. This lead was short-lived when a safety car brought him back in passing distance of the other drivers. As Mercedes’s second driver Bottas was asked to give his position at the front of the grid to his teammate Hamilton. Verstappen was then able to overtake Bottas after taking an early pit stop, and finished with a solid second place, keeping his and Hamilton’s points close going into the 4th race of the season.

Spanish Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas

Hamilton led the race in P1, with Verstappen being placed between two Mercedes with Bottas behind him. Verstappen again took an early lead, swerving past Hamilton, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took over Bottas into lap 1. A safety car was then instated after AlphaTauris Yuki Tsunoda experienced engine failure. Hamilton was able to take the lead back from Verstappen after a clean pitstop giving him the tire advantage as Verstappen was on older tires. Hamilton was pulling away in the title race, and Verstappen had to find a way to slow down Hamilton’s lead to keep him in the title race.

Monaco Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Lando Norris

There was heartbreak for Charles Leclerc after having to pull out of his hometown race due to a gearbox failure. After putting himself in pole position, effectively giving himself P1 and his first grid lead of the season, he spun out causing damage to his car, taking him out of his most anticipated race of the year. This put Red Bull in the lead and Verstappen leading in front of the grid. Verstappen went on to lead the entire race and take the win, narrowing the gap between him and Hamilton’s driver’s championship points. 

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

1. Sergio Perez
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Pierre Gasly

Charles Leclerc was able to take another pole position in this race, and this time he was able to start at the beginning of the grid without any problems. His lead was brief after Hamilton took over in front of the grid in the second lap. Then Verstappen would overtake both Hamiltons and Leclerc and ease his way to victory. With four laps remaining Verstappen’s right rear tire failed which sent him spinning into the barriers, taking him out of the race. The rest of the racers would line up once again at the start after the race was red-flagged. Hamilton would mistakenly leave on his break magic and be sent off the track, giving Sergio Perez of Red Bull the win, with Sebastian Vettel, a former F1 champion racing for Aston Martin taking second, and AlphaTauris Pierre Gasly finishing in third, giving him his first podium of the season.

French Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Sergio Perez

Verstappen started in pole position, with Hamilton close behind. After a mistake by Max gave Hamilton the lead early in the race, Verstappen had to fight to find his way back into the race. Red Bull went for a two-step approach which proved superior to Mercedes one pit stop and as Verstappen was able to take his position back in the last 2 laps of the race and win the race Perez was able to overtake Bottas and take the third position, giving Red Bull the better of the points for this week. 

Styrian Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Valtteri Bottas

Verstappen was able to take pole position at his team’s home track in Austria. One driver who shined was Charles Leclerc, who started 18th and finished in 7th behind his teammate Carlos Sainz. There were amazing sights of orange in the stands cheering on Verstappen and the Red Bull team. This would be seen again in the Grand Prix in the Netherlands as it is the home country of Verstappen. 

Austrian Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen
2. Valtteri Bottas
3. Lando Norris

Max yet again took a pole position and won the Austrian Grand Prix, seemingly taking the convincing lead in the driver’s championship race between him and Hamilton. Despite receiving a penalty for forcing Perez off the track Norris was able to take third place, his third podium appearance of the season.

British Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Valtteri Bottas

Hamilton was able to take the win at his home race in Silverstone even after losing the sprint position to Verstappen. In the first lap, Hamilton collided with Verstappen sending him into the barriers, ending Verstappen’s chance of beating Hamilton at his home race. Charles Leclerc was able to take the lead after the collision but was soon taken over by Hamilton who went on to win the race. After the race, Verstappen lashed out at Hamilton saying his actions were unsportsmanlike and disrespectful, further growing the feud between the two drivers.

Summer Break

Verstappen had a chance to cool off after the race in Silverstone for the F1 two-week summer break. This marked the halfway point in the F1 season, and Verstappen led the driver’s championship by 8 points with a total of 185 to Hamiltons 177. The following races would show the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen and bring to light the grit and determination that F1 drivers have, and their dedication to the sport. Next is a look into the extremely disputed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and its season-changing results for the drivers in the title race.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Going into the final race of the year, Verstappen and Hamilton both had an equal 369.5 points towards the driver championship, the first time in F1 history where drivers were equal in points going into the season finale. This would mean the driver who finished this race first would be given the title of F1 driver champion. Verstappen started in pole position with Hamilton P2, and Verstappen’s teammate Perez started P4. Verstappen’s lead was lost going into the first corner of the track giving Hamilton the early lead. 

Verstappen then made an aggressive move that pushed Hamilton off the corner, but when Hamilton came back onto the track he was still in the lead, cutting a part of the track to do so. To Verstappen’s surprise, Hamilton was not penalized for his illegal move to maintain his position. This was not the only controversial call made by the stewards in the race, but it did set Verstappen behind Hamilton early in the race. 

“I was infuriated by the steward’s decision, I started to think of excuses for Max Verstappen’s loss, but then the unbelievable happened,” Cameron Phillips said.

While Hamilton extended his lead, Verstappen was forced to pit to have a chance to contest Hamilton for the title. It seemed possible for Verstappen as he was gaining just enough time per lap to reach Hamilton, who started with a lead of over 20 seconds. As the race went on all hope was lost for Verstappen and his Army of Dutch fans as Hamilton held onto his persuasive lead, leading by over 10 seconds. 

“Initially I was angry that Max Verstappen was not given his position back at the beginning of the race, but I stopped caring when I saw that Hamilton was much faster than him and would have stayed ahead anyway,” Phillips said.

With three laps remaining and Hamilton clear of Verstappen with eyes on his 8th world champion title, Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barriers causing the race to be red-flagged, giving Verstappen one last chance to grab the title. Max was then able to sneak into the pitlane to get a fresh set of tires. This is where the controversy begins. 

Micheal Masi, the race director was presented with a race-changing decision, possibly altering the outcome of the 2021 F1 season. The restart behind the safety car was led by Hamilton with Verstappen staying multiple positions behind due to cars that had been lapped rounds before, so there would be a gap between the two championship contenders when the safety car would be removed. Masi had to either let the lapped cars pass ahead of Hamilton and set Verstappen once spot behind Hamilton, or keep the lapped cars and give Verstappen virtually no chance to catch up to Hamilton. 

After Masi heard arguments from both Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, he decided to let the lapped cars pass the safety car, giving Verstappen one last effort to overtake Hamilton. Although Hamilton had the lead with one long lap to go, Verstappen had the advantage because of his newer tires, and the classic underdog story was unraveling. 

Ignoring the frustration from the Mercedes team radio the race resumed and Verstappen made an overly aggressive move through the inside of turn five of the track, where he finally reclaimed the lead that was lost in the first lap of the race and putting him on track to win his first-ever driver’s championship of his F1 career. 

Although Hamilton had another chance to overtake, Verstappen held his ground and gloriously passed by the checkered flag victorious, claiming his first Formula 1 world championship. A miracle for Red Bull and Verstappen and heartbreak for Hamilton and the Mercedes team, and a thrilling yet unsettling end to the 2021 F1 season. 

“It was super exciting to see Max Verstappen overtake Hamilton on the final laps of the race. I’ve been rooting for Verstappen since the beginning of the season and although it was a controversial ending it worked out in his favor so I can’t complain,” Max Schrage said.

It is tough to say Verstappen did not deserve to win the championship, as he had led most of the laps raced this season and won almost half of the races, but it was difficult to see Mercedes go out on such a controversial call. 

1. Max Verstappen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Carlos Sainz

Paly Takes

Favorite Race of 2021 Season

“My favorite race of the season was the Italian Grand Prix, cause there was chaos throughout the race. I also thought that Bottas did a great job from last to third” – Partha Krishna

“Hungary was my favorite because of the excitement at the beginning of the race, as Bottas plowed through everyone in the rainy conditions. It may have been what solidified him being released from Mercedes. It resulted in an unlikely winner in Esteban Ocon, and we got to see an exciting battle between Alonso and Hamilton, and a Carlos Sainz podium” – Max Schrage

“My favorite race of the season was Hungary because the start was very exciting, and we got to see a bit of an underdog win instead of the expected winners” – Cameron Phillips

“Being a McLaren fan, my favorite race was Monza. It was a great race from the start, but the McLaren 1-2 finish was one of my favorite moments of all time. I loved seeing Ricciardo back on top of the podium” – Greg Laursen

Best Performing Driver

“I think Esteban Ocon performed the best this season because he ended with 1 race win in a car that wasn’t the best on the grid” – Cameron Phillips

“I think Max Verstappen performed the best out of all the drivers last season. He battled with Hamilton in basically every race. Hamilton and Verstappen are both great drivers but I think last year Max was the better of the two” – Greg Laursen

“I think the best performing driver last year was Max Verstappen. He was at the top of his game every single race, and he was always first or second if he didn’t retire or have a damaged car” – Partha Krishna

Title Race

“I loved the battle between Max and Lewis. It was such a narrow point gap between the two and they are both amazing drivers. I think it gave the sport lots of well-deserved attention too, because of all the nail-biter races” – Greg Laursen

“I enjoy watching a battle between Lewis and Max because they have very different driving styles that result in a clash between an experienced and disciplined driver in Hamilton and a wild and aggressive driver filled with raw skill” – Max Schrage

“I didn’t enjoy the fight for the driver’s championship because I was more interested in how Esteban Ocon was performing, so since he wasn’t involved in it, I didn’t care” – Cameron Phillips

“I enjoyed the championship battle because it was very gloves off. Each side was giving everything they had, and there was a lot of drama which I found super interesting” – Partha Krishna

Top Three Going Into Next Season

Max Schrage

Top Teams

1. Ferrari
2. Mercedes
3. McLaren

Top Driver

1. Carlos Sainz
2. Charles Leclerc
3. George Russel

Cameron Phillips

Top Teams

1. Alpine
2. Red Bull
3. Williams

Top Drivers

1. Esteban Ocon
2. Max Verstappen
3. Nicholas Latifi

Greg Laursen

Top Teams

1. Red Bull
2. Ferrari
3. Mercedes

Top Drivers

1. Sergio Perez
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Lando Norris

Click this link to learn more about the 2021 season: onestopracing.com