F1 2021 season review - including driver rankings, awards etc.

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Wow! We have come to the end of the longest season in F1 history, and what a polarising season it was. Some elements of the season make it a contender for the greatest season of all time, while other elements let it down. Overall, I would rank this season among the all-time greatest, despite there being some very clear negatives to it. In terms of the positives, the main one was that we saw one of the greatest title battles in the history of Formula 1 between Lewis Hamilton, the most successful driver of all time, and Max Verstappen, the young and very quick upstart. In terms of the average excitement of each individual race, this season probably comes top of all, with a mixture of awesome Lewis vs Max battles, and exciting races involving other drivers, such as in Budapest, Silverstone and Sochi. The title battle was tense throughout, and it is quite extraordinary that after 21 races, the two contenders went into the final race on equal points. The obvious hatred between Christian Horner and Toto Wolff further heightened the tension of the season, but at times was too much. Another huge positive from the year was the emergence of new talent in Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. Both have shown themselves to be good drivers in the past, but this season they stepped up to be among the best. The negatives were a string of controversial stewarding decisions, none worse than the finale which was utterly farcical and made a mockery of the sport, a drastic increase in the number of toxic and delusional fans who managed to make the F1 internet a far less pleasant place for discussion than it used to be, none worse than the racist abuse received by Lewis Hamilton after Silverstone. Another negative of the season was the introduction of sprint races to the championship, which I believe was done appallingly, with Liberty effectively admitting that they are only in it for the money.

Was Max Verstappen a worthy champion? Although I didn’t like the way it was ultimately won in Abu Dhabi, he and Red Bull had some awful luck in the first part of the season, losing a win in Baku, and probable second places in Silverstone and Hungary, through little fault of their own. So despite winning the championship on pot luck in the end, overall the luck mostly went against him. So yes, Verstappen deserved the title. Mercedes won the constructors’ title for the eighth year in a row. Despite only having been around since 2010, the team now have the same number of constructors’ titles as McLaren. In my opinion, the current Mercedes team is the greatest team in Formula 1 history, and I fully expect them to produce the fastest car with the new regulations, and for Hamilton to win his eighth title in 2022, where he will be supported by new teammate George Russell, who may put up a surprise title challenge.

It is also worth mentioning that this marks the end of the turbo-hybrid era. Well not really, because next season the cars will still use turbo-hybrid engines. But the end of the era that spanned 2014-21, which we currently call the turbo-hybrid era, but which history will surely call something else. Next year the cars will be very different, and are designed to follow each other more closely, which can only be a good thing. There could be a major shakeup to the pecking order, but my money is on Mercedes to produce the best car again, as I believe they narrowly had in 2021 over the course of the whole season, as I have rated them as the fastest car in 11 races, and Red Bull fastest in 10 races. The era began very badly, with Mercedes dominating for three seasons, and the races far less exciting than they had been before, although the Rosberg-Hamilton rivalry was great. But the era increased in entertainment over the following years, and in my opinion 2021 was among the best in F1 history, with 2020 also ranking very highly considering the difficulties faced with the pandemic. Lewis Hamilton won six titles in this era, with Rosberg and Verstappen taking one each, and Mercedes took all eight constructors’ championships, unprecedented dominance in F1 history.

A special mention should go to Kimi Raikkonen, who retired at the end of the season and currently stands as the driver with more starts than any other in his Formula 1 career. Kimi has always been a popular driver due to his unusual personality of hating the media and always wanting to be left alone, only really being there because he loved motor racing. He will be missed by the F1 community. Farewell also to Antonio Giovinazzi, who raced for three seasons and did an okay job but never really set the world alight. The third Alfa Romeo driver, Robert Kubica, is also unlikely to race in Formula 1 again, and his return after nine years out due to injury is one of the great stories in Formula 1 history. Officially, this is the end of Honda in F1 after seven years, but they’ll still be supplying Red Bull and Alpha Tauri engines next season. Bottas leaves Mercedes after 101 races where he showed himself to be the perfect number two to Lewis Hamilton, while Russell takes his place after three seasons with Williams in which he was only outqualified by a teammate twice, and those both came in his final four races.


So here is my review of the season, I should note that every time I refer to the Driver of the Weekend, or DOTW, I am referring only to my own personal choice, not any official decision.

Off-season – most of the major stories in the silly season happened way back in early 2020, before that season had even begun. Sebastian Vettel lost his drive at Ferrari, and was replaced by Carlos Sainz. His place at McLaren was taken by Daniel Ricciardo. Later in the season, Ricciardo’s place at Renault (later Alpine) was taken by returning champion Fernando Alonso. Sebastian Vettel then moved to Racing Point (later Aston Martin), with Sergio Perez bought out of his contract. It seemed as though Perez would be out of a drive for 2021 despite being one of the top performers of 2020, but not long after Abu Dhabi he got a drive in place of Alex Albon at Red Bull. Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda replaced Daniil Kvyat at Alpha Tauri, and Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were ousted in favour of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Bahrain – the season started in Sakhir in March, and Red Bull surprised many by converting their testing speed into the fastest car at the first round, with Max Verstappen securing pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Surprises elsewhere were Sergio Perez missing Q3, Fernando Alonso making Q3 on the first race of his return and Yuki Tsunoda initially going second-fastest in Q1. Verstappen led at the start, but Mercedes put Hamilton on a different strategy, and also benefitted from having Bottas close behind. Hamilton’s strategy caused him to lead in the latter part of the race with Verstappen closing him down on fresher tyres, and in the final laps Hamilton made a mistake, Verstappen closed in and passed him for the lead. However, his pass was done off-track, so Verstappen was forced to give the place back and Hamilton took the first victory of the season and the Driver of the Weekend. Bottas finished third with fastest lap, followed by an impressive Lando Norris, Sergio Perez who had started from the pitlane, and Charles Leclerc. Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth on his debut, while Gasly damaged his front wing after contact with Ricciardo early on.

Imola – Formula 1 got a surprise return to Imola for round two. In qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took pole, while Max Verstappen slipped up and lost second place to teammate Sergio Perez. The star of qualifying was Lando Norris, who initially went third as Martin Brundle exclaimed, ‘is he going to put it on the front row? Is he going to put it on pole?’ but had his lap deleted for track limits. The track was wet and Verstappen made an excellent start from row two to narrowly lead Hamilton, after starting in second gear. Leclerc ran third, while Norris showed good pace after being let past Ricciardo. Hamilton made a mistake lapping George Russell and hit the wall, dropping over a minute to Verstappen. However, he was thrown a lifeline as Russell, who had been doing a great job, then hit Bottas and took both out of the race. There was a slow-motion replay shown of Bottas flipping Russell the bird as Russell backhanded Bottas across the face, while David Croft stated, ‘he’s going to check he’s okay.’ This caused the red flag to be thrown, and on the restart, Verstappen nearly dropped it on the final corner. Leclerc didn’t capitalise on the error and allowed Verstappen back in front, and Max then pulled away. Perez spun out of a strong position. Hamilton fought through to second place, while Norris passed Leclerc for the final place on the podium, and DOTW. Stroll and Ocon also impressed. There was controversy as Leclerc, Perez and Raikkonen all made errors on formation laps and safety car laps, but due to different rules Raikkonen didn’t repass when he should have and was penalised, while for Perez the opposite happened.

Portugal – Again, F1 got a surprise visit to a track from 2020, this time Portimao. Verstappen was fastest in qualifying, but had his time deleted for track limits, so Valtteri Bottas took pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was passed by Verstappen early on, and Raikkonen hit Giovinazzi and broke his front wing. Hamilton repassed Verstappen, and then Bottas who went too defensive into turn one. Verstappen then passed Bottas too, and it was status quo at the front until Bottas pitted for fastest lap too early, and Verstappen tried the same but lost it to track limits. Hamilton won from Verstappen, Bottas and Perez. Lando Norris finished fifth with DOTW after excellent conserving of old medium tyres, while Carlos Sainz on similar tyres dropped to eleventh. Alpine managed a double points finish.

Spain – Hamilton took pole position from Verstappen and Bottas, while Perez spun in Q3. Max Verstappen took the lead at the start, and from then on the race was almost a carbon copy of Hungary 2019. Hamilton was unable to undercut Verstappen, so made an extra pitstop and chased down Verstappen, passing him to win with a handful of laps remaining. Bottas finished third, with Leclerc a lonely fourth and the DOTW. Daniel Ricciardo put in a much improved drive with sixth place, while Ocon also impressed again.

Monaco – the fifth round of the season was back at Monte Carlo. Qualifying threw up a major surprise as Ferrari finally seemed to be on the pace of Mercedes and Red Bull, and Charles Leclerc securing pole position after crashing on his final lap and stopping any drivers challenging him. Ferrari said they would change Leclerc’s gearbox if they had to, but decided it wasn’t necessary and it failed on the way to the grid, leaving the pole position slot empty. Verstappen was now the effective pole-sitter and led away from Bottas and Sainz, while Hamilton was stuck behind Gasly in sixth. The next major story of the race was Valtteri Bottas getting a cross-threaded wheel-nut in his pitstop and Mercedes being unable to remove it for 43 hours. Lewis Hamilton was overcut by both Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel, and ended up in seventh. Verstappen then won from Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, mirroring the 2011 podium. Norris had another outstanding performance as he lapped teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who was still struggling. But DOTW went to Vettel who finished fifth, his first points for Aston Martin. Lewis Hamilton was only seventh and lost the championship lead to Verstappen, while Giovinazzi finished tenth for Alfa Romeo.

Baku – Qualifying was heavily interrupted with crashes for Stroll, Giovinazzi, Ricciardo and Tsunoda, but it was Leclerc who took his second consecutive pole position, and this time kept it. However, he dropped behind Hamilton and Verstappen early on, as the Ferrari did not have the race pace of the Mercedes or Red Bull. In the first round of pitstops, Red Bull managed to get Verstappen and Perez into first and second, while Vettel jumped up ahead of the midfield for Aston Martin. There was a dangerous crash for Lance Stroll, who suffered a puncture on the main straight and had to fight the car to avoid spinning into the middle of the road. Then, with a handful of laps remaining, Verstappen too suffered a puncture while leading and was seen kicking his tyre in anger. The red flag was shown, and Sergio Perez led from Lewis Hamilton with two racing laps remaining. On the restart, Hamilton got a great start and looked to have taken the lead, but pressed the brake magic button by mistake, massively changing the brake bias and sending him off at the first corner. Perez then won his second Grand Prix from Vettel, who took a second consecutive DOTW, while Pierre Gasly won a late scrap with Leclerc for third. Alonso finished sixth after making up four places in the two-lap sprint. There were zero points for Verstappen, Hamilton, or Valtteri Bottas who had an awful race and finished twelfth.

France – Paul Ricard is typically regarded as a dull track, but this year gave us another cracking race. Traditionally a Mercedes stronghold, but Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position. He went too deep into turn one and half-spun, dropping behind Lewis Hamilton, but then undercut him in the first round of pitstops. Hamilton and Bottas ran in formation behind, while Perez went long in the second Red Bull. Red Bull made a surprise second pitstop with Verstappen, while Mercedes committed to a one-stop with both cars. Verstappen then chased down the leaders, passing first Bottas and then Hamilton to win the race. Hamilton finished second, while Perez passed Bottas for third. McLaren did an excellent job to salvage fifth and sixth with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo by pitting late, a decision that initially looked like a mistake, while there were also point scoring finishes for Gasly, Alonso, Vettel and Stroll. Ferrari had a nightmare of a race as Sainz finished eleventh and Leclerc sixteenth, both wearing out their tyres. DOTW was George Russell, who put in a magnificent qualifying lap in Q1, and then a strong drive to twelfth for Williams.

Styria – the first of two Austrian GPs, as the Red Bull Ring hosted two Grands Prix for the second year in a row. The Red Bull appeared to have the advantage and Max Verstappen took pole position. Verstappen led from the start ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Lando Norris held up Perez and Bottas in third at the start of the race, before later letting them past without any defence. Leclerc and Gasly collided on the first lap, with Leclerc braking his front wing against Gasly’s tyre on rejoin to the track. Gasly suffered a puncture, which broke his suspension. From then on Leclerc made an impressive fightback to seventh. Max Verstappen won comfortably and was the DOTW, ahead of Hamilton, while Bottas just held off Perez for third. Norris was fifth from Sainz and Leclerc, while Lance Stroll took an impressive eighth. There was disappointment for George Russell, who retired from the race while running in the top ten for Williams.

Austria – in the second Austrian GP, the tyres were one step softer, but Red Bull still had a clear advantage over Mercedes. Verstappen took another pole position, while Lando Norris took an incredible second on the grid, with Sergio Perez third. At the start of the race, the safety car was deployed as Ocon was pincered between two cars and broke his suspension. On the restart, Perez went to the outside of Norris, who forced him off and earned a controversial five-second penalty. Norris then held off Hamilton for many laps, with Hamilton exclaiming, ‘such a great driver, Lando,’ after he finally overtook. Further back, Leclerc made some fantastic overtakes, but was twice forced off the track by Sergio Perez, earning him two five-second penalties. In my opinion, the first was fair, the second wasn’t. Verstappen won, while Hamilton suffered damage on a kerb, and lost positions to Bottas and Norris, who was the DOTW with a fantastic podium. Further back, Alonso passed Russell for tenth in the final few laps to deny Williams their first points in two years. Tsunoda was twice penalised for crossing the white line on pit entry, while Raikkonen clumsily turned in on Vettel on the final lap.

Britain – the British Grand Prix was the first of three sprint weekends, a concept which divided opinions among F1 fans. Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the sprint, while George Russell made headlines with another great lap to make Q3. Max Verstappen took the lead from Hamilton at the start, while Alonso made an excellent start on softs to go from ninth to fifth, but went backwards in the rest. There wasn’t a huge amount of action in the sprint after the first lap, apart from Perez spinning out of fifth place. At the start of the actual race, Hamilton challenged Max Verstappen and after a thrilling first half-lap in which they jockeyed for position, it all came to grief at Copse as Hamilton put his nose down the inside of Verstappen and there was contact, with Verstappen off and into the wall. The beneficiary was Leclerc, who took the lead from Hamilton, and the red flag was called. This crash caused much controversy, as most drivers said it was a racing incident, but Helmut Marko claimed Hamilton should have been given a ban. The penalty awarded was a ten-second penalty, about right in my opinion. Leclerc led at the restart from Hamilton, Norris and Bottas. The Mercedes were expected to charge through, but Leclerc did a great job for Ferrari to hold the lead, despite some hiccups with the engine that never got too serious. His teammate Sainz also fought through well after an incident in the sprint, but got stuck behind Ricciardo once he reached sixth, showing Ferrari’s strong pace. At the pitstops, Hamilton served his ten-second penalty, and dropped behind Norris and Bottas. He passed both for second, and then set after Leclerc. Hamilton took the win from Leclerc by completing the move into Copse that he had intended to make on Verstappen, in the third-to-last lap of the race. Bottas completed the podium ahead of Norris, while Alpine recorded a double-points finish, and Perez was sacrificed from tenth to take the fastest lap away from Hamilton. Despite losing the win in the end, I thought Charles Leclerc was magnificent in Silverstone, and would name his drive there as the second-strongest of any driver all season.

Hungary – the final race before the summer break was at a track typically labelled as a stronghold for Lewis Hamilton, and Mercedes looked very good in qualifying, with Hamilton taking pole ahead of Bottas. The race started in wet conditions, and there was mayhem at the first corner as Bottas locked up and steamed into Lando Norris’ McLaren, taking himself, Norris and Perez out, and damaging Verstappen. Behind, Lance Stroll clattered into Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo. With Pierre Gasly also delayed in the mayhem, it is not unreasonable to suggest that all seven of Hamilton’s main threats for the race had been removed at the first corner, and the red flag was shown. Hamilton led from Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi! There was a standing start, but the track was drying quickly and almost every driver on the grid dived into the pits for dries, with the one exception being Lewis Hamilton. This created a comical image of the restart as Hamilton was left alone on the grid, and every other driver was lined up in the pits. George Russell crept to the front of the queue due to the positioning of his pit box, but was told to give the places back on the first lap of racing. Leaving Hamilton out turned out to be a significant mistake, and they threw away an easy win as Hamilton pitted at the end of that first lap after the restart and came out at the back. Esteban Ocon now led from Vettel, and the two of them pulled away quickly as Latifi ran third and held up the rest of the pack. Russell selflessly offered for his race to be sacrificed to help Latifi if necessary. Hamilton and Verstappen were at the back of the pack, but while Hamilton made his way up the order, Verstappen struggled with damage. It was not until the round of pitstops that Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso were able to clear Latifi, but by this point Ocon and Vettel had pulled a long way up the road. They then closed the gap on the leaders, while Lewis Hamilton was now in fifth place after making an extra pitstop. Hamilton looked a lot quicker than the leaders and a sure bet to win the race, until he came up behind Alonso. The Alpine driver put in a defensive masterclass to hold up Hamilton for multiple laps, and allow his teammate Ocon to hold on for a maiden victory. Vettel finished second, but was disqualified due to an issue which caused extra fuel to drain from his car, and he was unable to provide a sufficient sample. Hamilton then finished second, ahead of Sainz in third and Alonso, the DOTW, in fourth. Pierre Gasly made a strong recovery to fifth ahead of Tsunoda, and the Williams pair of Latifi and Russell were seventh and eighth, finally taking their first points for the team. Verstappen was only ninth with the damage, and went into the summer break eight points behind Hamilton after much bad luck. The Hungarian Grand Prix was an absolute thriller, the best Grand Prix of 2021.

Belgium – and from the best Grand Prix of the season to something a little different. The weekend was wet from the start, and we had a thrilling qualifying session in the wet. George Russell immediately looked quick as he put his Williams fastest in the first laps of Q1. Lando Norris then starred with the fastest times in both Q1 and Q2, but it all went wrong for him in Q3 as he spun at Eau Rouge and hit the wall, bringing out a red flag which Vettel had said should have been out already. On the final runs of the session, Max Verstappen only snatched pole right at the end from Russell, who did a sensational job to take second for Williams, in what was arguably one of the greatest qualifying laps in Formula 1. Hamilton was third from Ricciardo and Vettel. The rain on Sunday was even worse than on Sunday, as it was relentless all day with low visibility. Perez crashed on the way to the grid. The race was red flagged after a formation lap and a lap behind the safety car, and was not restarted for over three hours after much confusion over whether or not the race had actually started. Eventually, they went round for one more lap behind the safety car, before another red flag brought an end to the proceedings after no racing laps. The most entertaining thing that had happened was watching the drivers and teams trying to distract themselves during the wait. Formula 1 then made the controversial decision of awarding half-points, despite no racing laps, which meant Verstappen had won, while Russell took his first podium with second. I actually agree with this decision, but they also gave no refunds to fans at the track, which I think was wrong. The Belgian GP was the shortest race in Formula 1 history.

Netherlands – for the first time since 1985, Formula 1 returned to the Zandvoort circuit, and the Dutch now had a home hero in Max Verstappen competing for the championship, and ensuring that the entire crowd were dressed in orange and had orange flares. The track was a great addition to the calendar, with spectacular banked corners, and Max Verstappen claimed a home pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Giovinazzi took an excellent seventh in qualifying. Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q1. In the race, Verstappen led from Hamilton, Bottas and an impressive Gasly, while Alonso made a beautiful pass on Ocon and Giovinazzi, around the outside on the banked turn three. Hamilton then tracked Verstappen for the first part of the race, and remained close behind after the first round of pitstops. Valtteri Bottas was left out by Mercedes to help out his teammate, and played his part well as he held up Verstappen and allowed Hamilton to get close, but never close enough to mount a real challenge. Later in the race, Bottas was pitted for new tyres and told not to go for fastest lap, as it would take it away from Hamilton. Bottas ignored this instruction and went for it, only backing off in the final sector but still taking the fastest lap, and forcing Mercedes to pit Hamilton again to take it back. Verstappen then won from Hamilton, Bottas, DOTW Gasly and Leclerc. There were changes further back as Alonso passed Sainz for sixth, and Perez recovered to pass Ocon for eighth after an early pitstop due to a flat spot on his tyre.

Italy – the final race of this triple-header was at Monza, and was the scene of the second sprint race. Valtteri Bottas took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes regained the superiority over Red Bull. Bottas had taken a new engine so was already being sent to the back of the grid for the main event, but he won the sprint race as Hamilton got a poor start and dropped behind Verstappen and the two McLarens. Pierre Gasly retired from sixth as his front wing went under the car. From then on, the sprint race was processional, and the top five kept their positions. That meant Max Verstappen was on pole position, but there was surprise at the start as Daniel Ricciardo took the lead for McLaren, ahead of Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton, and Ricciardo held the lead until the first round of pitstops. Verstappen pitted later than him, but the stop was botched due to the new rule introduced to increase human involvement in the releasing of cars, and Verstappen came out of the pits ten seconds behind Ricciardo, and alongside Hamilton. Going into the first chicane, Verstappen went to the outside of Hamilton, and Hamilton forced him off. Instead of backing out, Verstappen stayed alongside and hit a sausage kerb, sending the back of his car into the air and on top of Hamilton’s. Both were out, and Verstappen got a three-place grid penalty for Russia. Ricciardo now led the race from Leclerc, while on the restart Lando Norris pulled off the move of the season for second as he passed Leclerc into Curva Grande with two wheels on the grass. Perez then passed Leclerc off the track for third, earning him a five-second penalty. Bottas had initially looked the likely winner and made it into fourth from the back of the grid, but got stuck behind Perez. So Ricciardo claimed his first win in three years for McLaren, with Lando Norris in second giving the team the only one-two of any team all season. Bottas was third, Leclerc fourth and Perez fifth once the penalty was applied. Ricciardo did his trademark shoey on the podium.

Russia – next up was Sochi, and Max Verstappen and Red Bull opted to take a new engine, thus removing the effect of the three-place grid penalty. The track was a Mercedes stronghold, and even in wet conditions looked clear favourite for a one-two on the grid. But in Q3, the track dried sufficiently for slicks and Hamilton hit the wall on pit entry, delaying himself and Bottas. Only a few teams were able to fire up their tyres quickly enough, and the result was a shock pole position for Lando Norris, second on the grid for Carlos Sainz and an incredible third on the grid for George Russell and Williams. Hamilton was fourth and Bottas seventh. At the start of the race, Sainz jumped Norris for the lead. The two pulled a gap as Russell in third held off the pack behind which included Lance Stroll, Ricciardo, and Hamilton in sixth. Max Verstappen was making solid progress after being waved past Gasly, as was Leclerc, while Bottas got stuck in traffic. Sainz pitted early, one lap after losing the lead to Norris, who then led after all the pitstops had been completed from Hamilton, Sainz, Ricciardo, Perez who was last to pit but had a slow final pitstop that cost him third, Alonso and Verstappen. Hamilton closed the gap on Norris, but the McLaren driver looked to have the legs on him and was set for his maiden victory when a rain shower hit with a handful of laps remaining. The likes of Bottas and Raikkonen pitted further back and made great progress, but Norris refused to pit. This proved to be a mistake when Hamilton pitted behind him, and a lap later the rain intensified, and Norris had zero grip. Hamilton therefore took the lead from Verstappen, who finished second from the back. Sainz was third, Ricciardo fourth, Bottas fifth and Alonso sixth, while Lando Norris was only seventh after avoiding a penalty for crossing the pit entry line. He was my Driver of the Weekend after being so unlucky to lose his first win, while Leclerc also deserves a mention, after starting from the back and looking like he would beat Verstappen and finish top six before the rain hit and he stayed out for too long. The often-maligned Sochi track had delivered a fantastic race.

Turkey – Sochi was followed by another rain-affected weekend in Turkey. This time it was Hamilton who went into the weekend with a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change, but he went fastest in qualifying ahead of Bottas, who therefore started from pole. Bottas led away at the start ahead of Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc, while Gasly collided with Alonso and was controversially penalised five seconds, as the Alpine spun to the back. Hamilton was recovering from eleventh, but got stuck behind Tsunoda for a few laps as the Alpha Tauri put in an impressive defence. Sainz also made some good overtakes as he pushed through the pack. The top four stretched away, as Leclerc was impressive in keeping up. Later in the race, Perez put up a stout defence against Hamilton as the two ran side-by-side for multiple corners. The cars were continuing on intermediates for a long time, but the track never looked ready for slicks (confirmed by Vettel’s fruitless attempt), so they had to look at pitting. Bottas did so, while Leclerc stayed out and led the race, attempting a zero-stop strategy. This failed, and he pitted soon after losing out to Bottas. Hamilton stayed out and ran third, going against Mercedes’ request for him to pit for many laps, until he eventually did so and was annoyed to lose out to Perez in third and Leclerc in fourth, and then couldn’t repass them as the tyres wouldn’t fire up, as per Jenson Button’s prediction. Bottas won his only race of the season in dominant fashion and was the best driver of the weekend. He was followed home by Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc and Hamilton. Gasly was sixth, Norris seventh, Sainz eighth from the back and Stroll ninth. Esteban Ocon claimed a point in tenth after no pitstops, the first time this had happened since Mika Salo in Monaco 1997.

USA – Mercedes initially looked to have the upper hand over Red Bull in Austin, but Red Bull overturned this in qualifying as Verstappen secured pole position ahead of Hamilton and Perez. Hamilton got a great start to take the lead from Verstappen at the start, and this forced Red Bull to try something different. They pitted earlier than Hamilton and undercut him, however, Mercedes tactically decided to go longer on the second stint to close down Verstappen in the final stint. After the second pitstops, Verstappen had a good lead over Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver closed him down and caught the back of Verstappen towards the final few laps of the race. He was close, but not close enough and Verstappen won the race. Hamilton was second from Perez, while Leclerc drove flawlessly for fourth. Behind, Ricciardo did a good job ahead of Bottas, while Sainz was involved in a great battle with the McLarens on the first lap. There was controversy around track limits, with Alonso forcing Raikkonen off and Raikkonen not being penalised for overtaking off-track, and then Alonso passing Giovinazzi off-track and being told to give the place back, leading to Alan Permane complaining to Michael Masi in a petty and sarcastic way. With five races to go, Verstappen led Hamilton by twelve points.