What Happened Between F1 Rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia?

Race seasons like the 2021 season come once in a generation in Formula 1. And so do the rivals like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who certainly peaked in that season. The two locked horns against each other for the entirety of the season and dragged out their battle until the very final infamous lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. But just before Abu Dhabi came Saudi Arabia, which featured on the calendar for the very first time. Plus, what happens in Saudi Arabia stays in Saudi Arabia.

So, before diving into the action of the race, let’s look at the numbers that inflated the tension on the grid, especially between the garages of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. 

Before the race, Max Verstappen, the Dutch daredevil, was perched atop the Drivers’ Championship leaderboard with an 8-point lead over his arch-rival, the mighty Lewis Hamilton. With 351.5 points to his rival’s name, the race was a make or break for Hamilton’s pursuit of a record eighth drivers’ championship.

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The qualifying was heated, and Lewis was starting at the pole, whereas Max started at third, behind Lewis’ teammate Valtteri Bottas. And then the drama started to unfold. What was the conclusion of the race? Lewis Hamilton finished first and set the best lap in the race, tying him with Max Verstappen in the standings going into the season finale. This outcome followed misunderstandings, hiccups, a great deal of hostility, and Toto’s broken Bose headphones.

The Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton flashpoints at the Saudi Arabian GP: controversy, collisions, and cursing

The race was marred by multiple red flags, safety cars, and collisions, with the first one occurring after Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas into the wall at turn 22. And while the two Mercedes, after a lot of cursing from Verstappen, went in to get a fresh set of tires, the Red Bull driver stayed out and found himself leading the pack when the race was red-flagged.

Following a restart, Verstappen got past Hamilton. But was then also forced to give the position back due to overtaking the Briton by going off the track.

In another crazy round of events, though, at the said restart, a bunch of cars crashed at the back of the grid, prompting another restart, this time with Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton leading the grid. Verstappen, who had to restart at third, dive-bombed past Hamilton and Ocon to take the lead. Then came utter madness between the two as they went wheel to wheel, ran wide at turn one, followed by stewards handing out a five-second penalty to Max for leaving the track, leaving the Milton Keynes squad enraged.

The two drivers then engaged in an epic battle that saw them collide multiple times. The two drivers then crashed out of nowhere as Verstappen attempted to give the place back to Lewis. Alas, the effort wasn’t good enough for the stewards, who handed out another 10-second penalty to the Dutchman after the race. Then Verstappen’s tires fell off the cliff, allowing Hamilton to take the lead and win the race.

Verstappen was frustrated with the officials’ decisions and F1’s focus on penalties rather than racing. “Emotions were running high at the time and it is what it is,” he said after the race, as quoted by CNN from Sky Sports. “I don’t agree with the decisions, but I don’t want to waste too much time on it because we don’t need to make headlines out of it. They [Mercedes] don’t deserve that.”

Lewis weighed his opinion, saying, “I’ve raced a lot of drivers through my life in the 28 years. I’ve come across a lot of different characters and there’s a few at the top which are over the limit. Rules kind of don’t apply, or they don’t think of the rules.”

“He is over the limit for sure. I’ve avoided collisions on so many occasions with the guy, and I don’t always mind being the one that does that, because you live to fight another day, which I obviously did. Then he obviously brake-tested [before their crash], I think to try and get the DRS into the last corner to overtake me again back into Turn 1, so there was a commotion,” added Hamilton when asked if Verstappen came into that category of driver.

The aftermath of the Tussle Between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Max got a 10-second penalty but still managed to finish second. On the other hand, Verstappen burst into flames after the race. 

“The fans have a clear mind about racing because what happened today is unbelievable. For me, this is not Formula 1 but at least the fans enjoyed it,” said Verstappen after the controversial race, where he was voted F1’s driver of the day. He further added, “I’m just trying to race and this sport these days is more about penalties than about racing.” 

Hamilton, too, didn’t hold back in expressing his views on Verstappen. In an interview with Sky Sports, he said, “He’s (Verstappen) over the limit, and he doesn’t think the rules apply to him.” The post-race quotes were indeed spicy after a race featuring so much controversy.

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Then the two went into Abu Dhabi on equal points, and, well, as they say, the rest is history.