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

muzikant
zwiss said:
Jos Verstappen has been to court many times, for beating up his girlfriend, for beating up his wife, for beating up the dads of other young drivers at the kart track, and even for beating up his own dad at Hungary 1997. This was all well documented in the papers.
It's maybe understandable that Max shows some of his dad's lack of self-control on track.
I am really happy the Dutch have a genuinly fast F1 driver, and that Max has many victories under his belt. But I hope he furter cleans up his act to become one of the truly greats. Today was not a good day.
Click to expand...
Max is not Jos. Max is Max and you're right it was a bad day for the sport especially again the Fia starring who wants to become its own comedy.
 
Richard Wilks
zwiss said:
Jos Verstappen has been to court many times, for beating up his girlfriend, for beating up his wife, for beating up the dads of other young drivers at the kart track, and even for beating up his own dad at Hungary 1997. This was all well documented in the papers.
It's maybe understandable that Max shows some of his dad's lack of self-control on track.
I am really happy the Dutch have a genuinly fast F1 driver, and that Max has many victories under his belt. But I hope he furter cleans up his act to become one of the truly greats. Today was not a good day.
Click to expand...
That's a low blow. Max is not his father. Just like John Paul Jr wasn't his muderer and drug dealing father either. Just like Hamilton is not his father either.

Let's not start getting all up and personal with this.

As for people trying to pick fence sides, and specially saying Hamilton did no wrong, please give me a break. This race is the culmination of a season of complete lack of control from the FIA regarding their own sport. Hamilton has been getting away with dodgy moves for years now, and so has Max. Their face off and the inevitable downfall of racing fairness is a direct consequence of these two being let off the hook for a long time, and this year it all came down to this, when the FIA should have had a heavy hand on this from the start of the season towards BOTH of them.

I warned about this at Silverstone in this very forum. Penalizing the acts without taking into account the consequences, or the possible consequences at least, is a stupid way of ruling such a dangerous sport with so much at stake.
 
muzikant
Richard Wilks said:
That's a low blow. Max is not his father. Just like John Paul Jr wasn't his muderer and drug dealing father either. Just like Hamilton is not his father either.

Let's not start getting all up and personal with this.

As for people trying to pick fence sides, and specially saying Hamilton did no wrong, please give me a break. This race is the culmination of a season of complete lack of control from the FIA regarding their own sport. Hamilton has been getting away with dodgy moves for years now, and so has Max. Their face off and the inevitable downfall of racing fairness is a direct consequence of these two being let off the hook for a long time, and this year it all came down to this, when the FIA should have had a heavy hand on this from the start of the season towards BOTH of them.

I warned about this at Silverstone in this very forum. Penalizing the acts without taking into account the consequences, or the possible consequences at least, is a stupid way of ruling such a dangerous sport with so much at stake.
Click to expand...
I can only agree with that! there will have to be a new group of people coming in the direction like Charly Whitting. The dumbest penalties every week is laughable in a multimillion-dollar sport with millions of fans who can expect at least fairness and good arbitration
 
C
Richard Wilks said:
That's a low blow. Max is not his father. Just like John Paul Jr wasn't his muderer and drug dealing father either. Just like Hamilton is not his father either.
Click to expand...
Isn't that a bad example. as he was convicted and served time for crimes committed with his father?
 
Richard Wilks
CDwyer said:
Isn't that a bad example. as he was convicted and served time for crimes committed with his father?
Click to expand...
He was, but he was mostly put in jail for refusing to testify against his father in his murder trial. He was no murderer himself.
 
Badwheels
So here we are. Last race. Drivers tied on points. Accusations of cheating from both camps. Toto training for Olympic headphone throwing medals. Christian proving that no one can howl louder than a Brit who assumes he has been wronged, Merc has strange wings, Red Bull has flapping wings, Hamilton screws up which buttons does what on his wheel, Max takes a "god lap" straight into the wall. We have had it all.

I have it on good authority that Merc has found a loop hole in the regs and are planning to use a different engine configuration for the last race.

chains.jpg
 
MPortnoy
muzikant said:
we're not talking about Silverstone's 52g anymore...we forgot what a joke. Merc himself started playing dirty games this year :roflmao: :whistling:
Click to expand...

You're just so blinded by your fanaticism it's ridiculous.

Silverstone was not "dirty games", Hamilton understeered into the corner due to the speed he was carrying which combined with Verstappen's aggressive driving and closing the door resulted in a collision.
What Verstappen did in Imola, Monza, Interlagos and Jeddah just to name some was running Hamilton off the road and sometimes even colliding with him ON PURPOSE to avoid letting him through at all costs, LEARN THE EFFIN DIFFERENCE.

The reason why the FIA has penalized Max more than they have Hamilton is not because of any conspiracy, it's because he deserved it but you just can't accept the truth can you?
 
C
I still find it odd that Hamilton decided not to take the racing line when Verstappen tried to let him by on the outside line, (even the report acknowledged it) but it is what it is. Hamilton should not have been driving as he did at that moment, nor should have Verstappen (and he needs to try and calm down in general, he's letting the mid-season get to him too much).

At the end of the day, it just leads to an ever more toxic fanbase on social media as well as within the teams and drivers themselves. It's sad that this season is ending this way, with so many dubious actions from both camps and poor officiating from Masi and company. I feel this season will become more infamous than famous, and it has become genuinely unpleasant and depressing following the sport with the level of hatred circling around it. #WeRaceAsOne is truly dead at this point.
 
WhiteFox41
Not gonna add anything to the Hamilton v. Verstappen debate, just wanna say that as much as it is enjoyable for us to see the title race go down to the wire, I do hope that next year's race would be safer than this year's.

And maybe better officiating in general but one thing at a time, I suppose :)
 
K
Crekkan said:
At the end of the day, it just leads to an ever more toxic fanbase on social media as well as within the teams and drivers themselves. It's sad that this season is ending this way, with so many dubious actions from both camps and poor officiating from Masi and company. I feel this season will become more infamous than famous, and it has become genuinely unpleasant and depressing following the sport with the level of hatred circling around it. #WeRaceAsOne is truly dead at this point.
Click to expand...
What I find really regrettable is that the top two drivers in the standings can't race side by side without *always* colliding at some point. I don't care anymore whose fault it is. But every direct Hamilton/Verstappen confrontation on track this season ends with some kind of incident. Can't these guys race cleanly?

I always go back to the same thought: the drivers of today think they can't get seriously hurt. And so they touch, they block, they swerve, etc.

You would never see that with Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Rindt, Moss, Graham Hill, Lauda, Andretti, Peterson, etc. We're still talking about the Villeneuve/Arnoux duel at Dijon in 1979 because it was so unusual for that era. But the thing is, Arnoux and Villeneuve didn't put each other in the wall. They crossed the line 2nd and 3rd and after the race, they had a good laugh about it, their friendship intact, instead of bitching and moaning on the radio that "he drove into me". And their team bosses didn't go in front of the camera to bitch and moan some more.
 
Last edited:
BP
Hmm...this is a sim racing forum, as opposed to the typical youtube comments section, or random forums where any idiot mouths off opinions without a drop of any racecraft experience, real or virtual...how can so many of us here not know proper racing etiquette?

If you're letting someone under green flag for whatever reason...you don't need "voice chat" or an engineer to tell them, drivers have been doing it IRL for decades: you pull to the INSIDE of the track (off the racing line), stay STEADY (i.e. predictable) and reduce speed SLIGHTLY. Verstappen did all three things wrong: went to the outside (stayed on racing line), weaved while slowing (again, on the racing line) and then braked hard as telemetry has now confirmed.

Anyone that thinks Hamilton is at fault for that on that high speed corner needs to learn how to drive on track safely with other people...sadly driving against AI won't teach you this (not a jab against offline drivers, just stating facts). Staying on the racing line in a 300 kph corner with your championship rival in hot pursuit and slowing down in an erratic manner is flat out stupid.

All that wasn't even taking into account this: the last time Lewis tried to overtake Max on the inside of a fast corner, he spent 6 months (and counting) being accused of being an attempted murderer when it takes two to tango...you can't depend on Max to be cautious in those cases as history has shown, so I sure wouldn't dive up the inside again without Max's intentions being crystal clear.
 
RichardHessels
I am fan of Hamilton and Max.
If Max would not have tried a killer lap at Q3 he would be 3rd on the grid anyway.
When Hamilton cuts out other drivers from the track, he always does the innocense act.
Verstappen tried everything he could, because if he did not try, he would still end up 2nd.
The Mercedes was again a bit faster.
Be glad we been on the edge of our seats, on this horrific track.
Without Max poking around it would be another sleepy race with hamilton half a lap free of the rest.
 
Amereto1
Kingkoenig said:
What I find really regrettable is that the top two drivers in the standings can't race side by side without *always* colliding at some point. I don't care anymore whose fault it is. But every direct Hamilton/Verstappen confrontation on track this season ends with some kind of incident. Can't these guys race cleanly?

I always go back to the same thought: the drivers of today think they can't get seriously hurt. And so they touch, they block, they swerve, etc.

You would never see that with Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Rindt, Moss, Graham Hill, Lauda, Andretti, Peterson, etc. We're still talking about the Villeneuve/Arnoux duel at Dijon in 1979 because it was so unusual for that era. But the thing is, Arnoux and Villeneuve didn't put each other in the wall. They crossed the line 2nd and 3rd and after the race, they had a good laugh about it, their friendship intact, instead of bitching and moaning on the radio that "he drove into me". And their team bosses didn't go in front of the camera to bitch and moan some more.
Click to expand...


I would totally disagree, the antics we are seeing have been part of F1 for many, many decades. The difference now is our era of social media and the TV coverage now gives more access to it. Are these incidents any different to Schumi/Hill, Schumi/villeneuve, Schumi nearly putting Barrichello in the wall at Hungary, Schumi storming down the pit lane to put a right hander on Coulthard, Senna/Prost, on and off the track, Vettel/Webber resulting in that big crash in Turkey, Piquet/Salazar coming to blows, and many instances going back to the 50's of drivers ready to throw hands. We just didn't have access to it like we do now, but F1 has always been a shark tank.
And what's also laughable is F1 fans saying "Oh! Wouldn't it be so great if we could hear team radio, all the communication between teams and drivers, Yes!, Yes! YES!!" F1 fans the next day "Why is Lewis always moaning about his tyres, why doesn't he just shut up", "Why are Redbull always badgering the stewards, why don't they just shut up, blah, blah...we don't like it" Also F1 fans since whenever, F1 is boring, the cars are easy to drive, the races are just processions, it's the same winner every week. Then get a race track where you probably might need an extra cushion in the car to rest those humongous balls (or whatever the women's equivalent is) and the response "It's too dangerous, why do they put walls there and make it so hard, why do they travel at 300 kph and always crash, blah, blah...we don't like it."
This has by far been one of the best seasons in a long, long time, good and bad included from Max/Lewis and Mercedes/Red Bull, Ron Dennis would be so proud. As long as it's settled on track fairly, may the best man/team win.
And Gasly is my driver of the season, absolutely outstanding job this year.
 

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