Hamilton and Verstappen shoulder to shoulder
The two pilots each have 369.5 points in the pilot classification. Everything will be played out in Abu Dhabi in a week!
THE VICTORY OF LEWIS HAMILTON!
The Briton won ahead of Verstappen and came back up to the Dutch driver’s standings (369.5), a week before the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. 8th victory this season for the Mercedes driver, after a completely crazy race. Max Verstappen finished second, and Bottas ejected Ocon from the podium on the line!
Lap 48 – Hamilton too strong
New record for the Mercedes driver in 1’30 “734.
Tour 46 – Hamilton takes off
The Briton is 4 “ahead of Verstappen, while the Red Bull driver cannot stop at the pit because Esteban Ocon is too close behind!
Verstappen and Hamilton tied for drivers’ standings
With the provisional 26 additional points, Hamilton joins Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ standings.
New investigation for the Verstappen overrun
This Grand Prix is totally crazy, as Hamilton takes the lead again.
Lap 44 – Verstappen lets Hamilton pass and overtakes him
Max Verstappen receives a five-second penalty.
Lap 41 – Lively exchanges between the FIA and Mercedes
The team of Lewis Hamilton does not digest the incident with Verstappen and ensures that they did not understand that Hamilton could overtake the Dutchman during the collision.
Lap 39 – Bottas passes fourth
Pass of arms between Bottas and Ricciardo for 4th place. The Finn overtook before being immediately taken back to the straight line.
Verstappen widens the gap
The Dutchman is 2-22 ahead of Hamilton.
Lap 38 – The two pilots touch each other!
As Hamilton attacks, Verstappen cuts off the Briton’s line again and the front wing is destroyed for Hamilton!
The commissioners take up the incident.
Tour 36 – Hamilton gets closer
The Briton has just improved his mark to 1’31 “199 and is no longer very far from the DRS.
Lap 34 – One second gap between the two leaders
Verstappen is still in the lead ahead of Hamilton. The duo set sail for Ocon (+19 “).
Round 33 – Green Flag!
End of the virtual safety car, conditions are now optimal to finish this Grand Prix.
Verstappen complains
While Verstappen is blocked by Kimi Raikkonen, the Dutchman is not happy to be held back. “Why isn’t Kimi speeding up?” he explains over the radio.
Lap 30 – New slowdown
Some parts of the single-seaters are then on the track and are cleared as and when.
Lap 29 – Verstappen still in yellow gums
While Lewis Hamilton continues with the hard rubbers.
5 second penalty for Tsunoda
Last of this Grand Prix, the Japanese suffered a five-second penalty, following his previous collision.
Hot shot for Alonso
The Alpine pilot was scared by doing a spin, but he took off again.
Lap 25 – The mano to mano continues
Verstappen is still in the lead, 1-1 ahead of Hamilton.
Tsunoda in the background, yellow flag
The Japanese pilot carried out a straight ahead and managed to free his aileron, after a collision with Vettel.
The pilots slow down.
Ocon is holding on
While the duo took the lead, the Frenchman is 6 “behind the pair, but keeps a small lead (+2”) over Ricciardo, 4th.
Lap 21 – Hamilton fastest lap
The Briton completed the last lap in 1’32 “532.
Lap 20 – One second gap between Verstappen and Hamilton
While the Dutchman had the fastest lap, the Red Bull driver kept the lead (+1 “1).
Lap 18 – Hamilton overtakes Ocon!
The Briton takes the best from the Frenchman and steals second place.
Ocon second!
The Frenchman remains in the ranks just ahead of Hamilton, while Verstappen takes off!
Tour 16 – IT’S RE-RE-DISTRIBUTED!
Verstappen cuts Hamilton’s path and takes the lead!
It’s off again for a new formation lap
The third standing start of the day will be given in a few minutes, while Verstappen has put on the yellow gums.
Four withdrawals in this Grand Prix
Four drivers have now retired in this GP: Schumacher, Mazepin, Russell and Perez.
New standing start with Ocon in pole position, lunar negotiations between the FIA and Red Bull
Esteban Ocon will start in the lead just ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen, who escapes the 5-second penalty. Lunar moment with a negotiation outside the FIA protocol with Red Bull, after his mistake at the time of the second start of the race. The FIA offered, live, to Red Bull to start Verstappen behind Hamilton, rather than leaving the commissioners to decide on the usual scale of sanctions.
The race will resume at 7.40 p.m.
The FIA proposes to let Verstappen start behind Hamilton instead of imposing a penalty. The situation is getting more and more blurry.
Ocon for the moment second
While the race is stopped, the Frenchman is well wedged between Verstappen and Hamilton.
Round 15 – New red flag after the incident with Mazepin!
A few seconds after the start, the race was again brought to a halt after an incident involving Mazepin, Perez and Russell.
HERE WE GO AGAIN !
Hamilton passed Verstappen, but the Dutchman pulled away and took the lead again by crossing the track!
The start will be stopped
But the poleman changes identity, since Max Verstappen will be in the lead, ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
The cars come out of the pits!
Max Verstappen changed his tires as the Dutch driver started behind the safety car.
Perez, Hamilton and Bottas big losers of this red flag
Ocon (Alpine) is one of the big winners of this red flag. The Frenchman is 4th when it comes time to leave, ahead of Ricciardo, Leclerc and Gasly.
The GP will resume in less than 10 minutes
The new start, either stopped or in motion, will be given at 9.15 p.m. local time, 7.15 p.m. French time.
Hamilton is pissed off
On his radio, the British pilot plagues: “I do not understand why there is a red flag.”
Round 13 – Red flag after the Schumacher crash!
The race is suspended and all the cars return to the pit. Drivers who have not made it to the pit, notably Max Verstappen, can change their tires.
A good operation for the Dutchman.
Big gap between Hamilton and Verstappen
While the GP leader follows the safety car, Lewis Hamilton is quite far from his rival and tests his tires.
Perez at the stand
Different strategy between Verstappen and Perez, who comes in to put on hard gums. It comes out 8th.
Lap 11 – Verstappen takes the lead!
After a pit stop for the two Mercedes to install the hard rubbers, Max Verstappen is the new leader of this Grand Prix!
Round 9 – Yellow flag for an incident with Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher set off in the background at the 23rd turn and the yellow flag is unfurled. The pilot is doing “fine”.
This is the same sector as Charles Leclerc, who left during free practice.
Bottas is going to block
After a radio exchange, Bottas should “leave some space” in front of him. Hamilton will be able to take full advantage of the Finnish jump-off in front of Verstappen.
Giovinazzi overtakes Alonzo
The Alfa Romeo driver made a clean maneuver to overtake Alonso and enter the points.
Hamilton improves its brand
On lap 6, the Mercedes driver again sets the fastest time in 1’33.397.
Incident noted between Ocon and Tsunoda
The two drivers clung to the start of this Saudi Arabian GP.
Hamilton faster
Hamilton has the best time so far, in 1’33 ”782.
Verstappen remains third, 2 “7 behind the Briton.
Leclerc still fourth
Sergio Perez could not keep pace with Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari, who remained quite far from Verstappen.
Incident between Stroll and Russell
The two drivers hung up slightly on the second lap.
The departure is very fast
As expected, the drivers quickly took off and the Hamilton-Bottas-Verstappen trio came away.
Good start from Ocon
The Alpine pilot is 7th and passed in front of Gasly.
LET’S GO !
The Mercedes block Max Verstappen, who remains third.
Hamilton and Verstappen in good shape
The two favorites have won the last four Grand Prix, the Briton having triumphed over the last two.
Let’s go for the training lap
The pilots set off on the Jeddah track.
Saudi Arabia’s Anthem
15 minutes from the start of the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the history of F1, the national anthem is played, before a small opening ceremony.
Gasly well placed
The AlphaTauri rider will start in 6th position, three places ahead of Esteban Ocon (Alpine).
A circuit that has a lot of turns
The Jeddah Corniche is the 2nd longest track of this 2021 season, with a circuit of 6.174 km. The average speed is very high, despite the 27 bends on the track.
Verstappen world champion if …
Max Verstappen can be F1 world champion in Saudi Arabia, if he scores 18 points more than Lewis Hamilton. This therefore implies that he is classified 1st or 2nd, and that the strong man of Mercedes finishes very far from the podium.
Hamilton on pole
Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position, ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. In search of his first coronation, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will start third, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri).
welcome to all
Perhaps the Jeddah circuit will experience a historic moment. In the event of a favorable scenario during the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen could win the first world championship title of his career. The Red Bull driver is 8 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton with two races remaining. What to expect in an electric race on the night of the Middle East. Follow it all live with us!