Hamilton Wins a Controversy-Ridden Saudi Arabian GP as Verstappen Loses His Championship Lead

Lewis Hamilton, amidst immense pressure from his F1 rival, Max Verstappen, dominated the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix all the way to the chequered flag to secure his 8th race win of the season. Meanwhile, the Dutchman had to settle for P2, as the title-contending duo now head to Abu Dhabi with equal championship points.

How the F1 race unfolded

Start of the Saudi Arabian GP

After having sailed past a chaotic race start in the F2 feature race, F1 was brimming with signs of a chaos-ridden start as well. However, the pack managed to keep their starts clean, as the top 5 remained exactly the same as the grid position by the end of lap 1.

However, it wasn’t quite the start for the AlphaTauri drivers, as both Gasly and Tsunoda lost a handful of positions. While the former lost 2, the latter lost 5. By lap 8, Gasly found himself stranded in P9 while his teammate was down in P13.

Schumacher shunts his Haas as the grid mix up

On lap 10, the cameras turned their attention to Schumacher, whose Haas was absolutely wrecked around the exit barriers of turn 23. Hence, both Mercedes drivers, Leclerc and Perez pitted for a fresh set of hard tires. Verstappen, on the other hand, chose to gamble by staying out on his starting tires.

Along with Verstappen, Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly, and Sainz, too, opted to stay out on the track. And well, it played out in the strengths of this particular list, as the stewards decided to red flag the session, meaning they all helped themselves a free pit stop.

Second start of the evening at Saudi Arabian GP

The tables turned this time around, as Verstappen found himself starting on pole while Hamilton and Bottas had to start from P2 and P3, respectively. It was a brilliant getaway from Hamilton, who blitzed past Verstappen. But, the latter late-braked and tried going around the outside of turn 1, which almost ended quite nastily.

The Dutchman ran wide off the track and joined the track, consequently forcing Hamilton to take evasive action. In the mix-up Hamilton not only lost the lead but also lost his P2 to Ocon.

Meanwhile, there was something bigger unfolding behind this scramble. Perez and Leclerc tangled with each other, which led to a chain reaction involving Russell and Mazepin. Hence, 3 cars out of the race, which meant that the race had to be red-flagged again.

Yet another standing start to the Saudi Arabian GP

A penalty was impending for Verstappen. However, race director, Michael Masi, gave Red Bull an ‘escape’ offer; Verstappen lose a couple of spots to Ocon and Hamilton. And well, Red Bull took it with open arms.

The lights went out and Verstappen did not miss it this time around, as he produced a blinding getaway to beat both Hamilton and Ocon for the lead. Of course, the Briton spent a lap behind Ocon, but managed to leap ahead by the very next lap.

And it was all about the duel between the two title contenders.

On lap 24, Vettel and Tsunoda collided into each other around turn 1, causing the latter to lose his front wing and forcing the stewards to bring in the VSC. After investigating the matter, Tsunoda was handed a time penalty. However, moments later, Vettel found himself in another incident, this time, involving Raikkonen.

Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton

The battle reached the level of insanity on lap 38 where the duo almost tangled again around turn 1. Verstappen yet again defended hard, forced Hamilton off the track, and managed to keep the position. Hence, hardly a few turns later, Verstappen’s race engineer demanded the Dutchman to give up his lead.

And well, Verstappen did lift off but Hamilton wasn’t aware of it. Hence, right on the back straight, Hamilton slammed into the back of Verstappen.

This blew up into a massive controversy, but, Masi managed to play it even by handing Verstappen a 5-second time penalty.

Updated F1 drivers’ standings

1. Max Verstappen – 369.5
2. Lewis Hamilton – 369.5
3. Valtteri Bottas – 218
4. Sergio Perez – 190
5. Charles Leclerc – 158
6. Lando Norris – 154
7. Carlos Sainz – 149.5
8. Daniel Ricciardo – 115
9. Pierre Gasly – 100
10. Fernando Alonso – 77
11. Esteban Ocon – 72
12. Sebastian Vettel – 43
13. Lance Stroll – 34
14. Yuki Tsunoda – 20
15. George Russell – 16
16. Kimi Raikkonen – 10
17. Nicholas Latifi – 7
18. Antonio Giovinazzi – 3
19. Mick Schumacher – 0
20. Nikita Mazepin – 0

Updated F1 constructors’ standings

1. Mercedes AMG (Mercedes) – 587.5
2. Red Bull Racing (Honda) – 559.5
3. Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari) – 307.5
4. McLaren (Mercedes) – 269
5. Alpine (Renault) – 149
6. Scuderia AlphaTauri (Honda) – 120
7. Aston Martin Racing (Mercedes) – 77
8. Williams (Mercedes) – 23
9. Alfa Romeo Racing (Ferrari) – 13
10. Haas (Ferrari) – 0