Lewis Hamilton won a controversial Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas amid two red-flag stoppages. The result means the two championship rivals go to the final race level on points.
Red flags aplenty in Jeddah
Hamilton led Bottas and Verstappen at the start but on Lap 10, Mick Schumacher spun and hit the barriers. The Safety Car soon turned into a red flag, crucially giving Verstappen a free stop under red flag conditions, while the Mercedes had stopped earlier under the safety car.
The Lap 15 standing start saw Hamilton lead, but Verstappen went wide and off-track at the first chicane, cutting back across Hamilton, who dropped to P3 behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. However, there were two separate incidents behind in which Sergio Perez was spun around by Charles Leclerc and Nikita Mazepin collided into the back of George Russell, who was attempting to dodge Perez, so another red flag was called.
The second restart would see Ocon start ahead of Hamilton then Verstappen in third. In that restart, the Dutchman made a terrific move using his faster medium compound tyres down the inside of the opening chicane for the lead while Hamilton found himself overtaken by Ocon, but the Brit passed the Frenchman a lap later.
Hamilton and Verstappen collide (again!)
Three Virtual Safety Car periods followed from Lap 28 to Lap 36 after which Hamilton was in DRS range of Verstappen. The Mercedes driver attempted a move on Lap 36 on the main straight but the Dutchman braked too late for comfort, running wide at turn two and retaining the lead.
He was instructed to give first back and on Lap 37 the Red Bull driver slowed – only for Hamilton to get caught off guard and clip the rear of his rival, taking front wing damage.
After chaos reigned on the team radios between each team and the stewards, Hamilton closed in and looked to get past the Red Bull on Lap 42 but Verstappen pushed him wide and continued on. This time, the stewards stepped in and put a five-second time penalty on the championship leader.
Podium heartbreak for Sebastian Ocon
Ocon, who had benefitted from a stop during the first red flag, missed out on a podium by losing third across the line to Bottas. That put the Alpine driver fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren, who started 11th but enjoyed a rapid start and a red-flag pit stop for fifth.
Pierre Gasly finished in sixth after holding off the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz who finished seventh and eighth respectively. Antonio Giovinazzi, despite leaving Formula 1 at the end of the season, had another good race by finishing in ninth. Lando Norris rounded out the points paying positions.
Thrilling finale set for Abu Dhabi…
Abu Dhabi hosts the season finale with both Verstappen and Hamilton on 369.5 points. However, this could change as the stewards continue to investigate the chaos between the two in the days to come.
By Charlie Parker
