Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez was disappointed with his performance on qualifying simulations relative to his teammate Verstappen, noting he had a lot to improve in this area but was pleased with his race run performance in practice. Following Friday's sessions, Toto Wolff remarked that he expected Mercedes and Red Bull to be in a close "dogfight" with each other at the front of the field throughout the rest of the weekend. By the start of lap 51, Verstappen had closed to within a second of Hamilton, and launched his attack when Hamilton ran wide on the exit of turn 10. The next lap, he overtook the Mercedes around the outside of turn 4; however, since he completed the overtake by going off the track, he was instructed by the team to hand the position back, which he did between turns 10 and 11.
The Red Bull was then hit by oversteer caused by the dirty air off the Mercedes on the exit of turn 13, and Verstappen lost significant time trying to bring it under control. This gave Hamilton the opportunity to pull away, and the rapidly-closing Verstappen was not able to overtake before the end of the race. Meanwhile, Bottas pitted for fresh tyres, and set the fastest lap of the race. In Saturday's qualifying, Max Verstappen, having led all three practice sessions in his Red Bull, took pole position for the fourth time in his career. In Sunday's race, Hamilton claimed victory over Verstappen, who had tried to overtake him previously but only managed to do so by exceeding track limits, and who was told to give the position back.
Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton's teammate, rounded out the podium, giving their team Mercedes a large lead in the Constructor's Championship. The race was marked by controversy on the rules surrounding track limits, with leading figures from both teams criticising what they saw as unnecessarily complicated regulations. After three hours of racing, the cars did make a brief appearance on track to test conditions, this time under what was counted as race conditions. However, just over two laps later the red flags appeared again and the race was called off. Crucially, however, because more than two laps had been completed, the race classification was valid, offering half championship points. In effect, that meant that the qualifying order dictated the final points.
It therefore gave Max Verstappen victory, but perhaps more notably a first ever podium for George Russell, in the most unusual of circumstances. Fighting pain from a trapped nerve in his neck, Vettel navigated Safety Car periods to win the British Grand Prix at a blisteringly hot Silverstone in 2018. Starting second on the grid, Vettel used Ferrari's power advantage to grab the lead into the opening corner from Lewis Hamilton – who was out of contention just a few corners later after being spun around by Kimi Räikkönen. Valtteri Bottas took the fight to Vettel, claiming the lead when the German pitted a second time under the Safety Car.
On fresher tyres, Vettel hunted down the Mercedes driver and finally got past with just 5 laps to run to claim his second British Grand Prix victory. Sunday, unfortunately for everyone in the sport, was a rather different story. The deluge was more that even the most seasoned F1 watcher had ever seen on a race day. They tried to get out under the safety car after a delayed start but swiftly gave up.
There followed a mammoth three-hour delay in the hope of conditions improving. Remarkably, the capacity crowd stay for the duration, reflecting the passion for the sport in this part of the world. Many of the drivers stood around not quite knowing what to do. Some of the marshals played a game of Pétanque and Alan Van De Merwe drove some exploratory laps in the safety car.
Sergio Pérez stopped on the formation lap on the way to the grid, which prompted an additional formation lap and shortened the race from 57 to 56 laps. Perez managed to restart his Red Bull, and was instructed by his team to start the race from the pitlane, in line with the regulations. The safety car was deployed until the end of lap three, and at the restart, Verstappen managed to hold off both Hamilton and Leclerc. Further back, Lando Norris, who had passed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap, managed to pass the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and began challenging the Mercedes of Bottas for fourth place. Gasly then made contact with Ricciardo's rear and lost his front wing, necessitating a pitstop, the contact with Gasly resulted in a loss of pace for Ricciardo for the rest of the race.
Mick Schumacher in the other Haas also spun, but was able to continue. Verstappen and Red Bull were both worried about his car's reliability after his teammate's issue, so he started to build a gap to Hamilton, which reached over 1.5 seconds by the end of lap 6. When Alpine told Fernando Alonso to pit from eighth place for fresh tyres on lap 11, it triggered a flurry of activity in the midfield, as teams sought to not be outwitted by the undercut strategy of others.
Up at the front, Hamilton pitted for hard tyres at the end of lap 14; Red Bull chose not to pit Verstappen, favouring a strategy that would see their driver on fresher tyres at the end of the race. Once you have Sky Signature, you can add Sky Sports F1 to your TV. Sky Sports F1 is the official broadcaster of every F1 race of the 2021 season. You can watch every practice, qualifying session and race live in HD. This package costs £18/mth on a rolling 31-day contract.
Alternatively, new customers can get Sky TV and Sky Sports F1 for £43/mth. However, this will tie down to an 18-month contract and you'll need to pay a one-time setup fee of £20. Max Verstappen held off Formula One title rival Lewis Hamilton over the final thrilling laps of the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday to win his eighth race of the season and double his lead in the championship standings. We certainly had an interesting qualifying session yesterday, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen taking pole at the death from Mercedes'Lewis Hamilton. It was not by a small margin, either, nearly four tenths of a second in the end.
From everything we have seen on the timesheets and with our own eyes over pre-season testing and practice, Red Bull looked the stronger team coming into this weekend. But, as the saying goes, you are never sure until qualifying for the first round is done and dusted. The curtain has closed on the a dramatic Formula One season as Max Verstappen walked away with his first drivers' championship following his final day victory over Lewis Hamilton. The closest finish in the history of the Bahrain Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel hold off the much faster Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to claim victory by less than one second with a supreme display of defensive driving.
Starting from pole position, Vettel controlled the early running until a mistake during teammate Kimi Räikkönen's second pit stop, in which a mechanic suffered a broken leg, necessitated a change of strategy for the German. Instead of pitting for a second time, Vettel was forced to make his soft tyres last for the final 39 laps, 30% longer than their estimated lifespan. Despite coming under pressure from Bottas in the closing laps, Vettel held on for his fourth victory in Bahrain. Ultimately, it will all come down to the finest of margins at Yas Marina, where drivers will race a newly shortened circuit – adding another unknown to an already nail-biting finale. All this leaves the season's two protagonists locked on 369.5 points apiece.
Verstappen is still officially ahead on race wins, but everything is now set up for a dramatic final showdown in Abu Dhabi to decide who is the 2021 F1 champion. The early laps in the dust of Mexico City belonged to Mercedes. By late afternoon, Red Bull was off and running again.
Formula One season championship leader Max Verstappen posted the fastest time of Friday's second practice at the Mexican Grand Prix. Erstappen came out on the hard tyres and they are 11 laps fresher than Hamilton's tyres of the same compound. He sets the fastest second sector time of the day. When it came to qualifying, the answer was dramatic and, on the face of it, surprising.
On reflection, though, perhaps we simply ended up with a list of what many believe to be the most talented drivers in the current crop of F1. How else could one justify the fact that George Russell, driving a car that has been at the back of the grid for several seasons, manage to plonk his car on the front row? Driving the lap of his life in a car which still retains a major performance disadvantage, the young British driver once again showed quite how good he is. Very much not coincidentally, the column inches over the summer break had all be about whether he is set to take Bottas' seat at Mercedes next year.
Toto Wolf says he has already made his decision. We think we know where that story is going, but let's await official confirmation in the coming weeks. On the back foot following some impressive performances from his young teammate Charles Leclerc, Vettel came into the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix without a win in over a year. Starting third on the grid behind Leclerc and Hamilton, Vettel's chances of a fifth win at Marina Bay didn't look good until the pit stops, when he managed to undercut Leclerc with an earlier stop and a fast out lap on new hard rubber. After taking the lead a few laps later, Vettel was able to manage his tyres to the end – with the help of three Safety Car periods – to claim an emotional 53rd Formula 1 victory.
Similar events befell Yuki Tsunoda in his AlphaTauri, who struggled on the medium tyres having been second fastest at the end of Q1, and ended up 13th. George Russell failed to reach higher than 15th in his slow Williams. The other drivers knocked out were the two Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen, who ended the session in 12th and 14th. In what was the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, the on-track action was the most dramatic of the year so far featuring three virtual safety car periods, two race-stopping crashes and a major incident between Verstappen and Hamilton. After cutting a corner on a previous lap, Verstappen was ordered to give first position back to Hamilton, only to then erratically break and cause Hamilton to drive into the back of him. The British driver recovered and eventually took first place comfortably ahead of Red Bull's Dutch-Belgian, who finished second.
Hamilton started on pole position, with Verstappen relegated from his P2 grid slot to seventh before the race after picking up a penalty for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying. Verstappen was back up to P2 by Lap 5, but in truth, Hamilton never looked troubled as he took his seventh win of the year at Losail. Hit play on the video above to see the key moments from the race under the lights. Different tactics between the two teams then set up an absolutely thrilling battle between the two in the final laps of the race, with the young pretender to the crown hunting down the seven-time champ as the laps ticked down.
Hamilton himself seemed to think that the gap would be bigger than the 0.388s that separated him from the Dutchman in the final reckoning. Still, the gap cannot be written off as small and Verstappen did it with a bit of floor damage that he picked up earlier on in the session. The prospects of a close title fight for the first time since 2018 seem real, if this trend can be continued throughout the season. Ll those in the top 10 have to start on the tyre they set their fastest time in Q2. Both Mercedes, Verstappen and Pierre Gasly will all start on the mediums.
Sergio Pérez and Yuki Tsunoda tried it but failed to get into the top 10. We wait to see what cars starting from will do, as they have a free choice of starting tyres. Following the second round of pit stops, Verstappen exited the pit lane 8.5 seconds behind Hamilton with 16 laps remaining. Elsewhere, Max Verstappen qualified on pole, with Hamilton third. Whilst not surprising, it's amazing how much of a leveler the rain can be for these cars and these two greats of F1 delivered under these difficult conditions.
Further back, Lando Norris could easily have been right up there, having topped the times in Q1 and Q2, but an early spin in Q3 put an end to that. Daniel Ricciardo stepped up in his teammate's absence qualifying fourth, his best ever in a McLaren, with Sebastian Vettel in fifth. After starting from pole position, Sebastian Vettel controlled the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix from start to finish.
But it was far from an easy day in the cockpit for the German, who battled a steering issue on his Ferrari for much of the race. Staying off the kerbs to prevent the problem worsening, Vettel claimed a hard-earned victory by just under 1 second from teammate Kimi Räikkönen. The tifosi didn't have to wait long for their new recruit's first victory. After a winless final season with Red Bull, Vettel and his famous finger made a return to the top step of the podium in just his second race for the Scuderia.
At a circuit where he had already triumphed three times previously, Vettel qualified just behind Lewis Hamilton for the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. After an early Safety Car period, Vettel made the most of superior strategy and outright race pace to beat Hamilton on merit, triggering emotional scenes in the Ferrari camp and tears from the man himself on the podium. Leading figures from both of the top teams expressed confusion over the regulations on track limits, especially those at turn 4. It was later reported that the confusion had stemmed from a pre-race instruction that turn limits at turn 4 would only be enforced in cases where 'a lasting advantage' was gained in the race. The stewards interpreted this as meaning that only overtaking off-track was not allowed; however, post-race analysis proved that Hamilton had gained almost three seconds at turn 4, with running wide worth at least 0.1 seconds per lap. Horner criticised the inconsistency of changing track limits between qualifying and the race, saying that this type of situation "shouldn't be shaded grey".
Hamilton noted that the situation "was very confusing", asking " is the boundary when you are overtaking?". Wolff compared the regulations at the event to "a Shakespeare novel", and called for consistency on the instructions from the FIA. Race director Michael Masi, however, insisted that the rules had been clear, saying "nothing changed at all during the race". Verstappen himself remained positive, reflecting on how Red Bull were "really taking the fight to them ". Verstappen's teammate Perez mourned what could have been if the car hadn't stopped on the formation lap, but emphasised the potential of the year ahead. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised the performance by both his drivers and by the team, noting that being "frustrated by second place not a bad place to be".
You wouldn't normally find F1 fans eagerly awaiting the Bahrain Grand Prix but not only was it a highly anticipated race, it also delivered some intriguing action. From the very beginning, with a brand new driver on pole, we had close battles, lots of retirements, some crashes, a safety car period, mechanical troubles, overtaking opportunities, and a fight to the finish. Verstappen will have to beat Hamilton in Abu Dhabi to claim the drivers' title, so it should be a thrilling showdown. Of course, you're here because you want to know when the race starts and how to watch it. So without further ado, here's everything you need to know about watching the action on TV and online in the UK. But - spoiler alert - the result, with Lewis Hamilton winning and Max Verstappen coming second , means the pair will go to the final race in Abu Dhabi pretty much as the season started, level on points.
Verstappen still leads by dint of more race wins. While the battle for the Formula One championship appears destined to go down to the final race of the season, Max Verstappen does have a chance clinch his first career title in Saudi Arabia. Mercedes filed two protests after Lewis Hamilton lost the Formula One world title to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the last race at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. Hit play in the video above to see all the action from the final race in this triple header, before the drivers head to Silverstone in two week's time...
Hamilton grabbed the lead into Turn 1, but then Verstappen and Red Bull pitted first to try to gain the tactical advantage. More pit stops and many laps later and the two men fighting for this world championship ended up just seconds apart on the track as the chequered flag neared. Ebastian Vettel will start from 20th and last on the grid today after being penalised five places for ignoring yellow flags during Q1 yesterday. It happened when Mazepin spun and it originally looked like he would escape punishment but apparently not.
He was starting 18th so I am not sure it will make a great deal of difference to his race – he should be able to overtake both Haas cars fairly easily. More quick sector times, taking six tenths out in sector two alone and then setting the fastest lap of all. Hamilton seemed to make the advantage himself in that final stint. Just 14 laps on the hard tyres the first time he put them on. Then he made his second set of them last 28 laps towards the end. Verstappen obeyed with Hamilton then managing to keep the driver, 13 years his junior, at arm's length for the remaining laps.
He crossed the line just 0.7 seconds clear to win the 96th race of his life as he pursues an unprecedented eighth world title. Sitting at the back of the Mercedes garage, boss Toto Wolff watched the concluding laps with his hands on his head, while rival team principal Christian Horner's foot anxiously tapped away on the Red Bull pit wall. A four-time World Champion and multiple record holder with Red Bull by the age of 26, expectations were high when Sebastian Vettel signed with Ferrari for 2015. Five seasons and fourteen victories later, Vettel is set to part ways with Ferrari at the end of the forthcoming season. A lack of consistently competitive machinery, the might of Mercedes and his own costly mistakes have all played their part in Vettel's inability to secure the elusive fifth drivers' title that he so craved. But rather than dwell on what might have been, here's five of Vettel's best wins for Ferrari.
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds for teams to use at the event. These were the same tyres as had been used in the previous year's event, but one step softer than those which had been used in 2019, when the C1, C2, and C3 compounds had been used. Ferrari and Alpine tested the 18-inch tyres intended for the 2022 cars in the three days after the event. Haas had announced before the start of the season that development on their 2021 car had already ceased, and that the team's sole focus was on the 2022 technical regulation changes. Further back on the grid, there was excitement about the closeness of the chasing midfield pack, with the relative speeds of Ferrari, AlphaTauri, McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin all uncertain.
