2021 Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia Hamilton Verstappen.jpg

Who will win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

  • Max Verstappen

    Votes: 1,117 46.4%

  • Lewis Hamilton

    Votes: 1,120 46.5%

  • Other Driver

    Votes: 172 7.1%
  • Total voters
    2,409
Just two races remain in this unforgettable 2021 F1 season, and both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships are still hotly contested as the teams head to Saudi Arabia.

Most Formula 1 fans are feeling some combination of excitement and exhaustion entering the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend. On one hand, the most tightly contested F1 championship in many years is a racing fan’s dream, but on the other hand the off-track drama has been a racing purist’s nightmare.

Amidst this on-track versus off-track furor, the 10 F1 teams and drivers are focused on securing or advancing their positions in the championship standings. Max Verstappen sits eight points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings. The pair have combined to win all but four races so far this season, and a win by either driver in Saudi Arabia will have a significant impact on the title outcome. A win by Hamilton will close the gap to two or fewer points entering the final race, and a win by Verstappen would reduce Hamilton’s hopes of taking the title to a few unlikely outcomes in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes and Red Bull are just five points apart in the constructors’ standings entering Saudi Arabia. Valtteri Bottas was the first race retirement in Qatar, which limited Mercedes’ points to the 25 collected by Hamilton. 2nd and 4th place finishes by the Red Bull drivers gave them a significant points surge to help narrow the championship gap. Like the drivers’ standings, a lot is on the line in Saudi Arabia for the teams.

Jeddah Corniche Circuit is host to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and should make for a compelling showcase of how fast the current generation of F1 cars is. Nearly 80% of the lap at this street circuit will be flat out for the drivers. Despite being over 6 kilometers long and encompassing 27 turns, qualifying laptimes will be well under one and a half minutes.

All eyes will be on the front of the field this weekend in this high-stakes race. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below on how you think this race will play out.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? Let us know on Twitter at @RaceDepartment or in the comments section below!

Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

Richard Wilks
They were both playing games with the DRS line, hence the clash. They are both equally to blame, and it just shows how the FIA has become so limp wristed and opened so many precedents that basically they can't control what happens anymore. Then they gave Max a time penalty, as he just lets Hamilton go through again, who promptly run him off the track out of spite, or maybe playing more DRS games. It turned into a shitshow, and nobody covers himself with any glory...

But the FIA is more to blame than anything, and i think Masi is losing his job at the end of this year.
 
BrainsBush
LeSunTzu said:
About 4) I have a couple of questions:
- if you genuinely want to give a place back, why do you slow down and wave slightly like something is wrong on the car? Blue flagged cars get off the racing line and stay stable.
Click to expand...
down shifting that fast to let another one pass with tyre flex does make you wave slightly. He didn't move from left to right on purpose. Did he?
And Lewis was not aware of that call. So he could have thought Max had an engine failure. Lewis was not informed. So he definetely should have avoid from crashing into Max' car. Shouldn't he?

LeSunTzu said:
- if you genuinely want to give a place back, once the car behind has made contact with your back, do you immediately get pedal to the floor? I would suppose that you still wait for the other to pass you if that is the intention.
Click to expand...
This was explained by the real experts as follows: A driver gave the opportunity to let the other pass. When the driver doesn't do that you are allowed to speed up again, Strange but true
LeSunTzu said:
I guess that Hamilton didn't want to become the new Damon Hill and got fooled nevertheless. He was very lucky to survive this with minimal damage.
Click to expand...

And your answers to the others questions 2 & 3?
 
Last edited:
R
Kostakop_ said:
Damn this tread turned to ****
Click to expand...
Not just this one/this site either. Everywhere is awful. I've just given up with this. It's hard to remember the days when you could have a civilised debate on the internet...


I mean the race itself was an absolute catastrophe and there were no shortage of controversial moments, but the general response hasn't been measured or respectful, it's just been embarrassing from almost all sides.

Seriously considering becoming a Kimi fan. Then I have to survive one more race and call it a day
 
E
About Max trying to let Lewis by, i've never seen a driver who had to let the opponent by slow down to third gear on a full throttle straight, despite Lewis not knowing his intentions that really wasn't "normal" behavior.
About the behavior in these F1 threads it seems it's always the same 2 or 3 guys starting the shitposting, sad to see.
 
Last edited:
D
Narrow city circuits with little run-off invite chaos. Check out a replay of the Indycar race at Nashville as an example. Calling the red flag after the first incident meant, if Checa was still in his car, he could have limped to the pits and had broken parts replaced. This may lead to drivers unsafely remaining in cars that are damaged. Ferrari should ask RedBull how the RB gearbox was constructed after it held together from a side impact while LeClerc's folded with the briefest of stresses.
MV was triple-penalized for the blocking of Hamilton on LH's first passing attempt. slowing to let him by just before the DRS activation zone, which led to contact, , slowing down to let him by and then again with the 5 second time penalty meant he could not pit for fresh tires and attempt a fast lap as that would place him behind Ocon & Bottas.
Lewis hung back on one of the times MV slowed down(a few laps after the contact), which should have relieved Max of any requirement to let Lewis through. But the state of Max's tires meant all of those issues became moot. Bottas slowing for the double pit...FIA did NOT do itself proud today.
Both Max & Lewis used race-craft to negate the wave-by rule, but only Max was told to let the other by. Ocon should also have given back a place for his pass, (was that also on Bottas?)
Max can win the title at the next race the Senna way, T1.
 
Last edited:
Durge Driven
VB holding up Max so Mercedes could double stack, if that isn't a bad sportsman I don't know what is :laugh:
 
muzikant
zwiss said:
Every time Max does not win it's because the FIA helpt Lewis...
How old are you? 5?
Click to expand...
App is right the Fia is corupt after Charly Whittingnits a mess where you have to wonder what punishment it will be again. Some don't get a punishment for the same, others it stands out a bit
 
zwiss
muzikant said:
App is right the Fia is corupt after Charly Whittingnits a mess where you have to wonder what punishment it will be again. Some don't get a punishment for the same, others it stands out a bit
Click to expand...
There you go: 5 years old.
 
R
muzikant said:
App is right the Fia is corupt after Charly Whittingnits a mess where you have to wonder what punishment it will be again. Some don't get a punishment for the same, others it stands out a bit
Click to expand...

You'd have a point if Verstapen hadn't gotten away with a lot of other decisions throughout the season. He's a quick driver and I think if he doesn't win this year, he will soon. But I do feel he needs to mature as a driver. He drives a bit like a young kid on Gran Turismo who will do anything to not let people past, or a desperate dive to regain a place. Just hope he doesn't do a desperate lunge in the last race which ends things prematurely.
 
McGherkin
Premium
This race was an utter shitshow on every level, but Max was the absolute shining star of the bad driving today. Absolutely zero regard for making any corner stick whenever it went wheel to wheel (aside from the three wide in the beginning which was a BRILLIANT move), and it’s now proven what was obvious to everybody but the max fans - he brake checked Lewis with a sudden 69 bar pedal application and 2.4G deceleration. When he eventually gave the place back he only did so in a place he would be able to get it back no matter what and still ran off the track after. Complained loudly over the radio at the end about the penalties that HE earned himself and then stormed off the podium like a child.

Meanwhile Horner wittered on at every single opportunity, and has publicly denounced the officials AGAIN, something he has been previously warned for.

Frankly Red Bull towards the latter half of this season have brought the sport into disrepute and deserve to be disqualified totally.

And to be clear here, I am not just angry at RB. Why the hell did Valterri slow Max up under the safety car? He was risking a penalty that could have ruined his chances of getting between Max and Lewis. The bickering on the radio is annoying as well. But RB were far and away the dirtiest team on the grid today. And what’s even worse are the blind fools who think they can do no wrong. ‘Max was slowing gradually’ - yes, so gradually he locked his rear wheels killing the engine revs. ‘The stewards are corrupt’ - these are the same stewards who gifted you free tyres and first place with a red flag? You win some you lose some, what you do not do in motorsport is bitch when it doesn’t go your way.
 
zwiss
randomcallsign said:
Essentially a non penalty.
Click to expand...
I guess the Max fanboys will become FIA fans after all :)
All of a sudden: not corrupt, no mafia...
As much as I dislike Max's on-track ethics, it's good they leave the result as it is.
 
Last edited:
muzikant
Robert Walker said:
You'd have a point if Verstapen hadn't gotten away with a lot of other decisions throughout the season. He's a quick driver and I think if he doesn't win this year, he will soon. But I do feel he needs to mature as a driver. He drives a bit like a young kid on Gran Turismo who will do anything to not let people past, or a desperate dive to regain a place. Just hope he doesn't do a desperate lunge in the last race which ends things prematurely.
Click to expand...
now that's not just racing. overtaking and defending is part of racing, and I'm going to say it again boring you accuse Max driving behavior what was copse corner 52g where LH pushes Max off. After all, Max is always blamed for the weird decisions of the FIA no I'm starting to get a bit done with this sport
 
DevlNando
RandomMallard said:
Not just this one/this site either. Everywhere is awful. I've just given up with this. It's hard to remember the days when you could have a civilised debate on the internet...


I mean the race itself was an absolute catastrophe and there were no shortage of controversial moments, but the general response hasn't been measured or respectful, it's just been embarrassing from almost all sides.

Seriously considering becoming a Kimi fan. Then I have to survive one more race and call it a day
Click to expand...
grow a spine
 
muzikant
McGherkin said:
This race was an utter shitshow on every level, but Max was the absolute shining star of the bad driving today. Absolutely zero regard for making any corner stick whenever it went wheel to wheel (aside from the three wide in the beginning which was a BRILLIANT move), and it’s now proven what was obvious to everybody but the max fans - he brake checked Lewis with a sudden 69 bar pedal application and 2.4G deceleration. When he eventually gave the place back he only did so in a place he would be able to get it back no matter what and still ran off the track after. Complained loudly over the radio at the end about the penalties that HE earned himself and then stormed off the podium like a child.

Meanwhile Horner wittered on at every single opportunity, and has publicly denounced the officials AGAIN, something he has been previously warned for.

Frankly Red Bull towards the latter half of this season have brought the sport into disrepute and deserve to be disqualified totally.

And to be clear here, I am not just angry at RB. Why the hell did Valterri slow Max up under the safety car? He was risking a penalty that could have ruined his chances of getting between Max and Lewis. The bickering on the radio is annoying as well. But RB were far and away the dirtiest team on the grid today. And what’s even worse are the blind fools who think they can do no wrong. ‘Max was slowing gradually’ - yes, so gradually he locked his rear wheels killing the engine revs. ‘The stewards are corrupt’ - these are the same stewards who gifted you free tyres and first place with a red flag? You win some you lose some, what you do not do in motorsport is bitch when it doesn’t go your way.
Click to expand...
mercedes can make anything they are covered anyway. why did max get a grid penalty last week for ignoring yellow flags and Hamilton for the same not.
 
randomcallsign
muzikant said:
now that's not just racing. overtaking and defending is part of racing, and I'm going to say it again boring you accuse Max driving behavior what was copse corner 52g where LH pushes Max off. After all, Max is always blamed for the weird decisions of the FIA no I'm starting to get a bit done with this sport
Click to expand...
Could you be done by now? That "muh Silverstone" salt as reply for the dozens of Max's near suicidal moves is boring.
It would also allow for everyone to actually discuss the racing instead of that blah blah.

Thanks.
 

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