Formula 1

About the season

The title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen came down to the most dramatic possible finish in Abu Dhabi: after Nicholas Latifi's crash brought out the safety car, race director Michael Masi let only the lapped cars between the two title rivals unlap themselves before immediately ending the safety car period - Verstappen passed Hamilton on fresher tyres on the final lap to snatch the championship; the FIA later found "human error" was involved but let the result stand. On the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton and Verstappen made contact at Copse; Verstappen hit the barrier at 51G and was taken to hospital, while Hamilton - despite a 10-second penalty - went on to win the race. At Monza, Verstappen's car launched over Hamilton's as he rejoined from the pits, with a wheel striking the Briton's helmet; the halo absorbed most of the impact, and both Hamilton and Mercedes said afterwards that it had saved his life. The season effectively ended years of Mercedes and Hamilton dominance, as Verstappen and Red Bull claimed their first world championship together. Max Verstappen won the 2021 Drivers' Championship with 395.5 points (Red Bull), 8 points ahead of the runner-up. Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship with 613.5 points, 28 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 22 completed races this season, there were 59 retirements. 6 different drivers won a race this season. Max Verstappen took the most race wins, 10 in total. Hamilton won the season-opening race, the Bahrain Grand Prix. The closest finish of the season came at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with a gap of just 0.745 seconds. The Hungarian Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 7 drivers failing to finish. The most dominant win of the season came at the Russian Grand Prix, with a margin of 53.3 seconds. Verstappen made the biggest gain of the season at the Russian Grand Prix, from grid position 20 to finishing 2 (up 18 places). The season's biggest upset win came from Hamilton at the São Paulo Grand Prix, starting from grid position 10. Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the season.