Race Review: Saudi Arabia GP
- Sophie Almeida
- Dec 10, 2021
- 7 min read
Carnage, absolute carnage. 2 red flags, 3 race standing starts, penalties, confusion and so much more - welcome to the 2021 Saudi Arabia GP.
The Jeddah Corniche circuit, whose construction only finished in the week before the GP, is the fastest street circuit on the track but with very little margin or error. We learnt this throughout the Formula 2 sessions, with cars ending up in the wall, as did Charles Leclerc during practice.
The weekend started with Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas topping FP1, followed by Hamilton Bottas and Gasly in FP2. On Saturday, FP3 was led by Verstappen, Hamilton and Perez.
Qualification came around on Saturday afternoon. Mazepin, Schumacher, Stroll, Vettel and Latifi were out in Q1, with some surprise exits in Q2 as Sainz, Russell, Alonso, Räikkönen and Ricciardo being eliminated. Q3 started and the times were dropping, Hamilton was on provisional pole but Verstappen started to fly, in one of the most beautifully put together laps seen in a Red Bull, With one corner to go, Verstappen fell foul to the street circuit barriers, clipping the car and having to pull up on track; he was set to take 0.5 seconds off the Mercedes’ lap time….
Qualifying finished: P1 Hamilton, P2 Bottas, P3 Verstappen, P4 Leclerc, P5 Perez, P6 Gasly, P7 Norris, P8 Tsunoda, P9 Ocon, P10 Giovinazzi, P11 Ricciardo, P12 Räikkönen, P13 Alonso, P14 Russell, P15 Sainz, P16 Latifi, P17 Vettel, P18 Stroll, P19 Schumacher and P20 Mazepin.
After a minute's silence to remember the life of motorsports legend Sir Frank Williams, who sadly passed earlier in the week, we had a slightly bizarre opening ceremony. The formation lap went, with lights out and Hamilton get his spot with Bottas blocking Verstappen who was nearly taken out by Perez who locked up into the first corner. Norris took P6 and Ocon P7 with Gasly dropping to P8 with overheating breaks. After some minor changes in the midfield, Schumacher spun into the barriers causing a safety car where many drivers pitted, including a double-stacked Hamilton, Bottas as well as Perez and Norris.
But what was a ‘cheap’ pit stop then turned to anger as the safety car turned into a red flag. As all cars were instructed to return to the pit lane, the drivers who hadn’t changed tyres were then given a ‘free’ pit stop, as you can take your mandatory pit stop under the red flag. This hugely helped Verstappen as he was in P1 as the red flags were waved, with Hamilton having pitted, so he kept the lead of the race without having to lose time in the pits. It also helped drivers such as Ricciardo who now saw in P5 but was detrimental to the race of his teammate Norris, who was completely out of place.
The race director instructed a standing start, with Verstappen in P1, Hamilton in P2, Bottas In P3, Ocon in P4 and Ricciardo in P5. Hamilton had a great start, squeezing Verstappen wide, who then ran back onto the track, cutting across T2 and taking the lead back. A slight contact meant Hamilton dropped behind Ocon who was now up to P2. But we very quickly had another red flag. The chaos behind saw Perez squeezed and tagged by Leclerc, with the Red Bull hitting the wall. Russell braked to avoid the chaos, with Mazepin then running into the back of him. All 3 drivers were then out of the race and we were all back in the pits.
And then in a bizarre radio conversation between Michael Massi and the Red Bull team, a negotiation for starting places seems to occur. Massi said that Verstappen could give the places back to Hamilton and start in P2 as they believed Verstappen overtook off the track at the restart, or he would be referred to the stewards. Red Bull agreed to P2, however, Mercedes lobbied the FIA to put Ocon P1, as he had gained a place. Red Bull then agreed to this as well, meaning the restart would be P1 Ocon, P2 Hamilton and P3 Verstappen.
Another standing restart on Lap 17. Hamilton tried for the overtake but caught Ocon slightly, sending him across the Turn 2 runoff and keeping the lead with Verstappen slicing down the inside of T1. Ocon then immediately gave the place to Verstappen as he knew he overtook off the track. One lap later, Hamilton was able to take the place from Ocon.
Lap 22 saw less than a second between the two championship rivals, with Hamilton having DRS on Lap 23 however one lap later we had a virtual safety car after Tsunoda tagged and spun Vettel, losing his front wing and was given a 5-second penalty for causing a collision. A few laps later, Räikkönen made contact with Vettel, spraying carbon fibre across the track causing another VSC on Lap 30, with another on Lap 36 to collect more of Vettel’s car. Vettel eventually had to retire due to damage.
Hamilton then attempted a move on Verstappen with DRS on Lap 37, with Verstappen braking late, despite Hamilton having a nose ahead. The Dutchman then ran off and retained the lead but was instructed to give it back as it was deemed to be leaving and joining with an advantage. This kick-started a very off series of events. Verstappen suddenly slowed after being instructed to give the place back, however, Hamilton was caught off guard as the message had not been relayed to him. He then clipped the back of Verstappen taking wing damage and leaving mass confusion over whether Verstappen had brake checked Hamilton.
The battle continued as Verstappen gave the place back but immediately took it back due to strategic placement on the track. Even with this, Verstappen was given a 5 second time penalty for overtaking off the track. Two laps later, Hamilton took the lead in a move that shoved Verstappen wide. Despite damage to his car, Hamilton took off, taking the fastest lap and winning the race by 11.8 seconds.
There was heartbreak on the line for Ocon. He had managed to fight off Bottas since the restart but on the line, Bottas edged ahead to take P3, with Ocon’s car not allowing him to use the overtake button, finishing 0.001 seconds behind the Finn. Further down the field, there wasn’t as much joy for some of the other drivers. Norris had managed to claw back to P10 taking 1 point after the red flags effectively ruined his race.
Post-race, Verstappen and Hamilton were called to the stewards over the supposed ‘brake checking’ incident. It was deemed that Verstappen was mostly at fault for the incident so was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision and 2 penalty points. The gap to Bottas was big enough that this did not affect the race results.
The final results were:
P1 Hamilton, P2 Verstappen, P3 Bottas, P4 Ocon, P5 Ricciardo, P6 Gasly, P7 Leclerc, P8 Sainz, P9 Giovinazzi, P10 Norris, P11 Stroll, P12 Latifi, P13 Alonso, P14 Tsunoda, P15 Räikkönen with DNF for Vettel, Russell, Perez, Schumacher and Mazepin.
Driver Of The Day: Ocon
The Frenchman, whilst taking advantage of the red flag to change tyres, fought off a Mercedes beautifully to the end. He had a brilliant drive throughout the whole race, getting his elbows out at the restarts and holding his own. Despite heartbreakingly losing what would have been his 2nd podium of the season, he still held himself gracefully in the post-race interview and coverage. Pure class from Ocon.
Biggest Crash: The Perez, Russell and Mazepin Chaos
The 1st restart saw Leclerc tag Perez, with the Mexican hitting the wall. Russell had to brake to avoid hitting other cars and with the smoke everywhere, Mazepin didn’t see him quick enough to brake and hit the back of him. There was not much either of the drivers could do but it certainly added another layer of carnage to the race as it caused a second red flag. You can see the incident here:
Overtake Of The Day: Bottas
As hard as it was to see Ocon loose his P3, Bottas had been pushing and fighting for the previous laps. It was a great achievement to be able to take the position on the line having driven so well throughout the race.
Biggest Heartbreak: Ocon
He was so close to his 2nd podium of the year but Bottas pipped him on the line. He had driven so well and it was very tough to see. In the media pen after he said to Sky Sport’s Natalie Pinkham, “Don’t push me Natalie or I will cry’, just heart wrenching really.
Notable mention also goes to Norris for just having bad luck on the tyres and red flags, particularly as he was caught up in the Perez crash making him loose even more places for the 2nd restart.
Best Radio Comment:
‘I think someone’s got your back here Max, because you’ve been voted Driver of the Day. If it’s not the FIA, somebody else has got your back’.
Very sassy from the Red Bull team, iconic! Check out some of the other team radios here:
Takeaways
This race could not have been written as a story if anyone tried. The chaos, the dirty racing, the negotiations with the race director… and we’re going to be back here early next year!
It also all comes down to one final race. After a whole season of fighting, Hamilton and Verstappen are tied on points, with the only thing separating them being Verstappen having 1 more win than Hamilton. It could go either way…
Another P10 finish for Norris. Since the Russian GP incident, the young Brit doesn’t seem to be the same; it just didn't go his way today with the red flags and being caught up in the Perez incident. Hopefully, he’ll have his mojo back for the final race, where he is still in the fight for P5 in the drivers' championship.
It's going to be a difficult race next week. We’re losing an F1 legend in Kimi Räikkönen, Giovinazzi is heading for Formula E and it’s Bottas and Russel’s final races with their current teams. Throw in the ultimate title decider, it could be another round of chaos.
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